With You
by LuminousWriter11
Summary: Eren's life changes when he meets the girl with the red scarf. (This is also a drama)
1. Saturday

**I am soooo sorry that I haven't uploaded a story in a while, I had a slight loss of inspiration, but it's back! Anyways, here is a new chapter series, please enjoy! :)**

**Note: I don't own attack on titan characters -_-**

**Setting: Modern day AU**

Saturday

The day was already off to a rough start for Eren; sliding off the bed he found a nearby shirt and sweater that he used to cover his exposed torso. It was Saturday morning and he had planned on staying in and relaxing after the busy week he had. Now, he was forced to leave his house because his parents were having company over. Sure he could have stayed and introduced himself, but he just wasn't feeling it today. He opened the window of his second floor room and was about to jump off, but not before leaving a note to his mother, "_Went to store, I'll be back later…P.S. left phone to charge __."_

Eren left the note on his table, and waved to his dog, eyeing him as he sneakily walked towards the window. "Stay…don't give me that look, I'll be back," said Eren. Not even hesitating, he leaped off the window and landed on the soft grass as he heard his mom calling him, "Eren?"

"Oh, I better hurry," said Eren as he ran towards the gate of his backyard and left his house, and mother, behind.

Eren wasn't sure how long he would stay out, but he would worry about that later at the store. Wearing pajamas, he continued to walk with hands in his pockets; the warmth of his house gave him a false sense of reality of the temperature outside. He looked up and saw the clouds, gray and gathering. Then, as he drifted his eyes toward his side, he saw something that made him almost catch his breath.

A girl with black hair and a red scarf was looking at the sky as if she was waiting for some otherworldly being to take her away. She was standing in a small park and he just looked at her for what almost seemed like hours, because to Eren, she was gorgeous. All of a sudden, small dots of white fell slowly like leaf falling from a tree. Eren took his eyes off of her for a moment to see the snow, but when his eyes returned, he saw her ink pool eyes staring right back at him.

"Uh…" Eren was quickly trying to think of something to avoid the awkwardness, but it was a useless effort. Mikasa took a step back, turned around, and walked away ignoring the fact that their eyes met.

"Right…that was awkward," Eren walked into the small park and took a seat in a nearby bench. "I didn't just freak her out," he said sarcastically as he covered his hair with his hood. "Still, she was kind of cute…oh, what am I doing, I was heading to the store."

There was a nearby little convenience store that locals use to get their newspapers, food, and other miscellaneous tools; it was also a place where Eren buys his favorite magazine. As he walked in, he notices Jean at the cash register, "Kirstein."

"Jaeger," that was all either of them said to each other as Eren motioned towards the magazine rack. _Out of all the places, he had to work here_, he thought to himself.

Unbeknownst to Eren, a certain girl was staring at him from behind a shelf.

"Is that weirdo following me? Take a deep breath Mikasa, let's just get out of here quietly," she said to herself. She walked softly toward the counter, checking to see if he was still looking at the opposite direction every few seconds. Reaching the counter, she placed her things down to take her wallet out; raising her shoulders as if to create some kind of camouflage. Jean, meanwhile, just looks at her curiously as he scans her items one by one.

"That'll be $6.20," he said. Just as Mikasa reaches into her wallet, she hears a laugh from behind her. Eren was standing behind her, completely oblivious to the girl in front. His attention was solely on the magazine he picked up.

"Is something wrong Miss?" said Jean.

"No, nothing is wrong…here," Mikasa gives him a ten-dollar bill.

"Do you happen to have twenty cents? We are kind of low on change," said Jean.

_Really? _"Um…yeah, I think I have some," Mikasa begins to fumble around her wallet, only to have a bunch of coins fall out, hitting the countertop loudly. "I'm sorry just give me a second," Mikasa desperately wanted to get out of here, as she searched hastily for the remaining change. She figured that the guy behind her definitely heard that, but she was wrong; Eren was still fixated on his magazine.

Jean looked on, noticing that this frantic girl in front of her was kind of cute. He got flustered as he said, "Ah, its okay…I-I'll just give you the change."

Mikasa looked up, "Thanks." Jean stopped for a second to notice her face when she said that, and then felt the need to give his input, "OH! Please don't worry about it at all! Haha."

Eren, unbelievably, took his eyes off of his magazine and said, "Dang you're loud man." Mikasa stood frozen.

"Shut up! Here you go miss, sorry about that," said Jean.

Mikasa nodded as she moved slowly away towards the exit; when she turned around, she noticed that he did not see her one bit. _That magazine must be really good, _she thought. Just as she was about to leave, she heard a whine arise from him.

"I forgot my money at home…Kirstein, you think you can let me have this? I'll come back with the money," Eren said.

"Are you stupid? I'm not letting you leave with that, I'll get fired!"

Mikasa knew that it was none of her business, but she figured that there was no way someone like him was purposely trying to follow her. She reluctantly turned around and placed some money on the table, "Here, keep the change."

Eren and Jean looked at the girl as she turned around and exited the store. Eren's mind clicked when he realized that was the girl from earlier, "This is enough, right Jean?"

"Uh, yeah, here's your change…Hey! Eren—" Eren ran out the store hoping to catch up to the girl, the rush of cold air and drops of small icicles weren't helping. Luckily, when he turned the corner, he immediately spotted her, "Hey! Wait a minute."

Mikasa stopped, as she already determined who it was, "You don't have to pay me back."

"I wanted to thank you, and I will pay you back."

"Trust me, don't worry about it."

"You were that girl in the park right?"

Mikasa looked at him curiously, "What's it to you?"

"It's just, I haven't seen you around before, are you new to this place?"

Mikasa briefly paused, "Yes, I moved here recently."

"I see, well let me the first to say…welcome to Shiganshina, a nice small city where it gets really cold, then really hot," said Eren smiling.

Mikasa slightly giggled, _yeah, he is definitely a weirdo, _she thought to herself. "Thank you, I see that you don't really care about what you wear outside," said Mikasa as she looked at Eren's choice of attire: pajama pants, slippers, and a sweater.

Eren clutched the back of his head, "My house isn't far, and I was just trying to kill some time."

Mikasa's eyes widened a bit, "Really? I was trying to waste some time too."

Eren smiled a bit as he said, "So, you still want to kill some more time?"

Mikasa was about to reply when her phone rang, "Oh, excuse me for a moment…Yes, Mom? Do I have to? Okay, I'll go…I'm sorry, but I have to go back home."

Mikasa was about to run home, until Eren stopped her, "Wait, if you find yourself lost around here, then just ask me…I have my phone with me." Eren searched for his device, but quickly realized he didn't have it with him. "Crap, I left my phone too," Eren felt disappointed as Mikasa looked at him, already facing the other direction.

"It's okay, if I'm lost I'll figure out a way," Mikasa said as she didn't want to keep her mother waiting.

"Right, well see you later then," Eren waived goodbye.

Mikasa stared him for a moment as she gave in, "It's 545-4958." Eren's ears perked up as he saw her run away from him.

"Wai—that's her number," Eren smiled, "545-4958." All of sudden, Eren realized that it was best to write down the number before he forgets it; so he rushed back to the store, where a confused Jean took a step back.

"Kirstein! Let me borrow a paper and something to write with, hurry up!"

"Alright, alright…here, now get out of here before I call the police for disturbing the peace." Eren quickly wrote down the number, "545-4958." Eren was ecstatic as he ran out the store and headed back home.

Reaching the backyard of his house, he climbed a nearby tree and made his way to his second-floor bedroom. As soon as enters his room from the window, the door swings open, "Eren!"

"Mom! Hey, I'm back," Eren said with a sarcastic smile.

"Yes, I see that, we'll talk about that later…come downstairs, I want you to meet our friends."

"There still here? How long have you guys been talking?"

"Hurry, let's go, they want to meet you," said Eren's mother as she pulled her son downstairs.

In the living room, his father spoke up, "Ah and this is my son, Eren, say hello to Mr. and Mrs. Ackerman, our new neighbors."

Eren was stunned to see that the girl he had just met, was sitting in front of her staring back at him with the same expression.

**Thank you guys for reading! Let me know what you think, and check my profile for updates!**


	2. Nice to Meet You

**Really sorry, guys! I messed up the chapter so I had to rewrite it, but this one is longer :). Enjoy!**

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Nice to Meet You

The two of them were staring each other long enough for both of their parents to question them.

"Um, Mikasa, do you know him?" said Mikasa's father.

Almost immediately, she stood up, turned towards him, and replied emphatically, "No!" She stopped herself momentarily as everyone in the room stared at her, and then gathered herself to continue, "We-We never met before…"

Eren was a little hurt by her response, but soon took the hint, "It's the first time we met, sir." He calmly walked towards her, "It's nice to meet you…Mikasa, was it?" Eren's hand stretched out as Mikasa grabbed it, following the flow of the conversation, "Yes…it's nice to meet you too."

As they released their hands, Eren's mother nudged him, "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"Oh, my name is Eren Jaeger it's nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Ackerman," said Eren nodding to the two of them.

"Likewise…you two must be so proud to have such a handsome son," said Mikasa's mother smiling. An embarrassing tint of red was shown on Eren's face as both of his parents agreed to that fact.

"And he is also quite smart too," said Grisha.

Mikasa's father chimed in, "I'm not surprised, he is the son of a doctor after all."

"And your daughter is very beautiful, definitely gets her looks from her mother," said Carla. Eren was already feeling uncomfortable, and he wondered if Mikasa was feeling the same thing as he glanced over at her. She did a good job hiding it at first, but her expression was beginning to show.

"Thankfully," laughed Mikasa's father, who suddenly felt warmth on his legs. "Oh, you have a dog, what's his name?"

"George. He is a very smart - and curious dog," said Grisha, as he noticed that George was sniffing at them. Eren returned his gaze back to the adults and, along with Mikasa, was very happy to see that George was changing the subject.

Carla picked up George and said, "Yes, he is a good dog…Oh! Would you like to see pictures when he was just a puppy? I also have pictures of Eren when he was just a baby too!"

"Sounds lovely, I believe I have pictures of Mikasa when she was just a baby as well on my phone," said Mikasa's mother.

"_Are you serious, mother?" _said both Eren and Mikasa mentally.

The fathers also decided to join in the conversation. "Like I said, she has grown into a beautiful young lady!"

"Oh, your son was already winning awards at school at such a young age!"

"_Really, Dad?" _thought Eren and Mikasa simultaneously.

Both pairs of parents went back and forth at their remarks toward their children, completely ignoring the fact that both of them were still in the room. Eren really felt the need to leave and noticed that Mikasa was the same. He figured he would use this opportunity to talk to her privately. "Mikasa," he whispered as Mikasa turned to look at him. What he saw was something pretty outstanding; her face was filled with red and it almost seemed like she was pouting. He held in a laugh by covering his mouth as he thought mentally, _"Oh man, she looks really adorable!" _Hoping to end her torture, he signaled her toward the kitchen. She nodded as the two of them excused themselves from their respective parent's conversation. George let out a whimpering sound hoping that Eren would save him, but all Eren could do was clap his hands together with an apologetic face.

"That was really awkward wasn't it," said Eren.

Mikasa was still trying to shake of her redness, "The fact that we already met before or that our parent's started glorifying us?"

"Both? I guess more so that we met before our parents knew." Eren grabbed a cup from a nearby drawer and filled with some tea on the stove, handing it to her as she took it with appreciation.

The two of them stood silently on opposite corners of the kitchen as they continued to hear their parent's mixture of talking and laughter. Finally, Eren asked Mikasa, "So, you don't want to tell you parents about me."

Mikasa looked away from her cup and stared towards him, "Sorry…we just moved here and I don't think my parents want to know that I already met a boy. Don't look at me like that, I didn't mean it that way!"

Mikasa glared as Eren poised a playful smile. Mikasa sighed, "Let's just start over and say that we met here, okay?"

Eren, though, felt like getting some payback from her recent outburst of denial, "I don't know, you already gave me your number, how are you going to explain your parents about that?" His smug confidence was starting to anger her, but then she quickly retracted her emotions as she remembered something.

"Don't worry about that, it's not a problem."

Eren was sure that her reaction was either going to be one of bashfulness or one of anger, but he was surprised to see that she showed no emotion. Suddenly, Mikasa's mother called her, "Mikasa! It's time to go home now."

Mikasa handed the cup back to Eren, as she moved out of the kitchen looking forward to go home. Eren followed as he stood next to his parents.

"It was wonderful to meet you, let us know if you need anything," said Carla.

Mikasa and her parents nodded in appreciation as they said their goodbyes and headed out. Grisha looked at his son, "Nice people aren't they?"

Eren sighed, "Sure." He then retreated upstairs to his room, lied down on his bed, and allowed his right forearm to relax on his forehead. He was planning to take a nap, but was kept awake by the thought of Mikasa being right next-door. He also thought that she would probably be going to the same school as him on Monday and that the other guys would probably start hitting on her. Suddenly, he remembered about her phone number and wondered if it would be okay to call her right now. Even though they just said goodbye a few minutes ago, he still wanted to talk to her. He got his phone, dialed the number that he had written down, and waited. Each ringing sound was giving him an odd sensation throughout his body. Still waiting for her to pick her up, he suddenly pondered for a moment about what he would say to her. This sudden realization, prompt him to end the call. "What should I say? Hey, it's me Eren. I just wanted to know if you guys made it back okay…come on Eren, they live next door." Eren placed his phone on his chest, still thinking of ways to not sound foolish. "I know you just left, but…but…I think you are incredibly beautiful." Eren slapped his forehead. "As if I can say something like that."

Eren picked up his phone again and dialed the number once more; "I guess I'll just tell her about the school." As he waited patiently for a few seconds, the sounds of ringing ceased abruptly; Eren held in his breath as he waited to hear her voice once more.

"Hello, this is Pizza Shack can I take your order?"

Eren was momentarily silent until he felt the need to ask, even though he knew that it was obvious. "This isn't Mikasa's number, huh?" Eren's tone was that of sorrow, as the man on the other side of the line became confused, "Excuse me sir? Um…are you going to order some pizza?"

"Sorry, wrong number," Eren hanged up not waiting for a response. "She gave me a fake number," his eyes were closing as he gave a small chuckle, "I can't believe she did that." Even though the sun had not yet set, Eren was exhausted, as this nap would soon turn into one of deep sleep.

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**Aside from rewriting this, my laptop has been crashing on me lately and it's a real pain. Hope you liked it, again guys really sorry about the update issues!**


	3. Sunday Run

**One word: Enjoy!**

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Sunday Run

His eyelids parted slowly, allowing his bright green iris to collect the small amount of light in his room. It was Sunday morning, and after everything that happened yesterday, Eren was sure that it was only the beginning. Living next door to someone you like, will start the emotional rollercoaster all over again he figured.

Still lying down, he grabbed his phone and noticed the time, not surprised to see the trio of numbers. "Of course, I went to bed early." All of a sudden, he heard a panting sound from the side of his bed. As he turned his head, he was met with the blue eyes of his blonde terrier. "George? Wait, I know you're mad about leaving y—Ouch!" George bit on one of Eren's fingers, which was painful initially, but soon turned into a feeling of laughter as George licked his finger. "Alright, I get it…since I'm awake, why don't we go for a jog?" George's tail wagged energetically accepting his owner's proposition as an apology.

As Eren got up from his bed, he noticed a plate of food on his desk, "Huh? Oh, I missed dinner…thanks, mom." He gathered his belongings and choice of attire, then opened the door out of his room; letting George race down the stairs as he followed behind him. Downstairs in the living room, he noticed his father slipping his jacket on, "Eren? You're up early today, where are you going?"

He placed his phone in his pocket as he began stretching his muscles, "I'm going run a bit, and I'm taking George with me. Are you heading out too?"

"Yes, a patient of mine needs to see me. Oh and Eren, I think it's a good idea for you to exchange contact information with Mikasa and her parents."

Eren halted his warm-up as he quickly stared at his father, "Why?"

"It's rare to have wonderful neighbors who interact with you, and it'll also be for insurance when your mother and I aren't here."

"I'm not a kid. I can take care of myself."

"I know you can, son, it's just a precaution. Besides, it will mostly be for her parents benefit and I'm sure Mikasa will feel grateful and safe knowing that she has someone to talk to."

"_I don't think she will," _thought Eren.

"I have to go now, please consider what I said, Eren." Grisha left quietly, not wanting to wake up Carla from her slumber. Eren sighed, even if he wanted to get her number, Mikasa wasn't going to make it easy.

"Let's go George."

The first steps outside are cold, but familiar. Eren waved to his father as he passed by in his car, then started running. He has always jogged on days like these, trying to shake off the emotions of the day before. Whether he was angry, depressed, or even elated, he knew that the feeling of running through Shiganshina was constant. With every step he took, George would match it; the terrier was without a leash, but knew very much not to stray too far from Eren.

They passed by old homes and familiar faces until they reached the bank of a small river. Eren slowed his pace as he watched George chase birds along the river. "Come on George," he eased his breathing, "you're not going to catch them." Eren's call was futile, as George was too concentrated on his mission. Seeing this, Eren decided to sit down on the damp grass and allowed his head to fall back. The morning silence was refreshing and it allowed him to contemplate.

"I can't believe she gave me a fake number. Though now that I think about it, it makes sense why she would do that. She just moved here, so everyone and everything here is probably alien to her." Eren felt the breeze as it cooled his sweating body, closing his eyes to enjoy his surroundings even further. "Then again, I didn't think she would do something like that, especially how she was when I first met her," Eren opened his eyes as he remembered their first meeting yesterday. Suddenly, Eren saw a small flock of birds fly over him and then felt the contact of fur on his face. "George! You're all over the place today aren't you?" George panted as he waited for Eren to get back up, "Okay, you had your fun now and I'm starting to get hungry so let's go back home, sound good?"

The two of them prepared to start running, but was suddenly met with the presence of another runner, "Mikasa?"

Mikasa took her headphones off and was a little shocked to see Eren here of all places. "Eren? You're all over the place, huh?"

Eren peeked down at George before returning to her, "I've felt like running today, and because I needed to repay George."

Mikasa looked at George then at Eren, "I suppose you did leave him behind for our parents to deal with, some owner you are."

Eren felt that Mikasa's tone was harsh, "You know I could of left you behind as well to deal with our parents, it was my house after all."

Mikasa was a little shocked by Eren's statement, but she didn't plan on backing down, "I didn't need your help."

"Really? Because it seemed like you were pretty uncomfortable back there."

Mikasa flustered a bit as she responded, "You are so…uh! How is it that in just two short days you manage to get under my skin?"

"Me?" retorted Eren, "What about you! You gave me a fake phone number after I was being nice when I first met you! That kind of hurt you know."

"I felt sorry for you, but I really didn't want to give you my real number. I didn't know what kind of person you were, okay. For all I know you could've been someone pretending to be nice!" As soon as she said those words, Mikasa took her glaring eyes away from Eren, who noticed this and also followed suit. The two of them heard no more dialogue from the other, but did hear the whimpering sounds of George. Mikasa looked at the blonde terrier hiding behind Eren's legs and noticed his familiar expression; she bent down on her knees as she attempted to draw him in, "It's okay, come here."

Eren looked down, skeptical that George would go near her, "He's scared of you."

Mikasa paid no attention to him as she said in soft voice, "George."

Unbelievably, George approached her slowly as each paw landed on the soft grass between them. "You're such a good boy, aren't you? I'm sorry if I scared you," said Mikasa as she pets the terrier. Eren noticing this sudden act by both of them decided to kneel down as well, "I guess your good with dogs."

"And cats."

"Excuse me?"

"I have a cat, her name is Luna. She was difficult at first, but then we warmed up to each other."

"I see, then I guess your good with animals…and not people."

Mikasa briefly stopped petting George as she stood up, "People don't betray you." She turned around, preparing to jog again, but was stopped by Eren. He wasn't sure what she meant by that, but at this point, all he wanted from her was to let her know that he wasn't a bad person.

"Wait…I'm a guy who tends to say stupid things, so I'm sorry if I've been a pain to deal with." Eren grasped the back of his head as his eyes averted her gaze, "But, since you just moved here, I know that I would feel a lot better if I knew someone in a new place." Eren took out his phone from his pocket, voice wavering as he said, "My dad thinks that you would feel the same if we exchanged numbers. Oh, and that he thinks I should get your parent's number too. I understand though if you still don't trust me."

Mikasa stared at him with unblinking eyes; but then remembered something, a small chuckle escaping her mouth. "My father told me the same thing. Just the exchanging of phone numbers part I mean." Mikasa was a bit hesitant, but as she stared at George who was staring back at her with joy, she felt at ease about the situation. Eren stood still seeing her take out her phone in front of him as he said, "So, you want to do it?"

"Don't say it like that," said Mikasa in an irritated voice, but was blushing a little.

"Sorry…stupid things, remember?"

Mikasa faced the front of her phone towards Eren, revealing the seven digits to him. He hastily dialed the number in as she stood still waiting for him to finish.

"Got it, " he said, "Hold on a sec."

Mikasa heard a small beep from her phone and as she checked to see the notification, an odd feeling rose as she read the text to herself, "Let's start over."

"What do you think?" said Eren.

As he waited for her response, he was caught off guard when he saw Mikasa suddenly smiling at her phone. She was dazzling, and Eren wouldn't realize it just yet how rare it was for him to see that.

"Sure, but I'm not going to forget everything. And as for my parents number, your not getting that," said Mikasa as she put her earphones on and ran.

Eren stood motionless as he saw her run away almost getting the urge to chase after her. But George, who was pushing his leg, brought him back to reality. "Oh, thanks George, we should get back. Mom is going to start worrying about us." As the two of them headed in the opposite direction that Mikasa went, Eren looked back and relived her face when she smiled._ "You're really complicated, you know that?" _he thought to himself, the corners of his mouth tugging at his lips.

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**Hope you liked it, let me know your concerns or what you think. Thanks for reading! **


	4. Are we?

**WOOO YAY another chapter lol. Hope you like it :). Sorry I was out, but school started back up, had to get things straightened out and what not. Anyways, enjoy.**

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Are we?

"I'm back," said Eren as he walked in with a very hyper George rushing past him.

"Eren? Is something wrong, dear?" Carla said as she poked her head out of the kitchen.

"N-Nothing's wrong, mom. Why do you ask?" he said taking his shoes off.

"When something is bothering you, you go off and jog in the morning." Carla returned to the kitchen, already making breakfast for Eren, "It's better to talk with me or your father about it, than to run it off. I'm worried that you might get too distracted with your thoughts and end up getting hit by a car or something."

"Mom, the point of running it off is so that I'm not distracted by my thoughts," Eren immediately noticed that he fell for the trap, "I mean, I won't let something like that happen…that is, if something was bothering me." Eren looked away as Carla approached him and pulled his ear causing a slight yelp to escape from his mouth. As he rubbed his ear, she grabbed both of his cheeks softly and spoke with a warm voice, "You're a really stubborn boy. I can tell when you are hurt and I can tell when you are lying."

Eren gently guided her hands away from his cheeks, "Okay, okay, I'm sorry."

Carla figured that that was all she was going to get from the stubborn boy today. "I'm sure your hungry, come and eat," she paused to notice George hovering below her, "and I'm sure your hungry too, huh? I'll give you something extra for looking after Eren." George, ecstatic, rushed to his doggie bowl as he waited for his food and reward.

After breakfast and other chores his mother made him do, Eren returned upstairs to his room and lay, face first, on his bed. He felt his phone poking the side of his leg, so he took it out of his pocket and glanced at the time. "It's not even ten yet," he motioned his body around; facing the ceiling, he slowly brought the phone down to his chest. "It already feels like a long day; waking up early, jogging around town, meeting Mikasa…" A sudden jolt of recollection brought Eren straight up from his bed, "Mikasa! Oh yeah, I got her phone number now." He quickly unlocked his phone, seeking the contact information of the girl next door. After a few seconds of hitting the wrong buttons, he found her; _Mikasa Ackerman_, the letters staring back at him with the seven digits alongside it. How something, like a phone number, can make a man almost stop time is unbelievable. Eren smiled, "I wonder if you finished running already. Would it be too desperate if I called you right now?"

Suddenly, his phone's ringtone brought him back to reality as he answered it hastily, "Hello?" No response, but he wasn't planning on hanging up because he knew who it was.

"Eren?"

"Mikasa?"

**Earlier…**

"I'm back," said Mikasa as she took her headphones out of her ears and placed her dirty shoes in the nearby closet.

"Oh Mikasa, your father already left and I'm going to the grocery store. Do you want me to get you anything?" said Mikasa's mother motioning towards her daughter.

"No, I'm fine."

"I left your breakfast on the table," she stopped at the door, almost forgetting what she wanted to say to her, "why don't you ask Eren to show you where the school is?"

Mikasa was halfway to her room when she turned around to face her mother, "Huh? I don't need to, I can find the school on my own."

"I see, well, wash the dishes when you are done and try to find Luna. I know she is hiding around here somewhere, she always hides when you leave the house."

"Okay, mom," Mikasa was already looking forward to being alone in the house and to take a nice quiet shower to wash off her sweat.

"And one more thing," Mikasa's mother poked her head out of the door.

Mikasa stopped, growing irritated at her mother's demands, "Yes, mother."

"When you do get Eren's phone number, ask for his parent's number too and give it to your father and I."

Mikasa's irritation turned into one of embarrassment, as she didn't allow herself to turn around this time, "Sure."

The sound of the door finally closing gave Mikasa the chance to go to her room. However, there was still one thing she had to do before she could take a bath, "Where are you, Luna?" It was silent; the only noises that were being heard were from the cars outside. Mikasa surveyed her room left to right, hoping to see the blonde cat in her field of vision. She was prepared to check the rest of the house, until the shadow of the four-legged feline caught her eye. "Luna!" Mikasa bent down and lunged to her side as she captured her. "Where do you think your going?" Mikasa sat back up as she brought Luna up in front of her, eye to eye, "You still hide from mom and dad, huh?" Luna is a bobtail cat who hides from people she is not comfortable with, but she was still able to join the Ackerman family with Mikasa's help. "Well, mom and dad are gone, so you can have your milk in the kitchen." Mikasa released Luna as she scurried off downstairs.

Closing the door, Mikasa took her shirt off and let it fall to the floor and as her other clothes followed suit, she contemplated how the day would go tomorrow, "Starting over again, new people, new school. I hope it won't end up like before."

The spray of water enclosed her pale skin body, and her black hair dangled downward as she faced against the flow of water. The blissful feeling of warmth allowed her mind to wander, _"When you do get Eren's phone number, ask for his parent's number too…"_ She turned the shower off and grabbed a nearby towel to cover herself with, "If it was just my number, I would be able to deal with anything he decides to do. But I really don't want to have mom and dad mixed up in this. Then again, I don't think he has any ill intentions."

As she entered her room and slipped on a clean pair of shorts and shirt, she picked up her phone to dial the number she didn't plan on using so suddenly; after all, they had just exchanged number a few hours ago. "Maybe I should wait, it would be weird if I just called him all of a sudden," she said as she slowly brought her phone down. Then, a furry feeling brushed across her legs, "Luna, what are you—" The feline jumped straight up as she slapped the phone out of her palm. Her phone had a fluffy strap that was giving to her on her birthday, something that Luna had her eye on since she received it. Mikasa sighed as she bent down to grab it, "Here, this is what you want, right?" Mikasa unhooked the strap and tossed it towards Luna, "Try not to tear it up, okay?"

As Luna jumped on Mikasa's bed, a new toy in her mouth, Mikasa looked down at her phone and noticed that it was ringing. No time to have a late reaction, she quickly placed the phone along her ear.

"Eren?"

"Mikasa?"

Mikasa wasn't prepared, but she figured she would start by saying, "Is this a bad time?"

"N-No, its not. Um, is there something wrong?"

"N-Not really, just, um…" Everything was happening so fast, but she was still able to concentrate on the conversation, "can you give me your parent's phone numbers? My mom wants to know."

"Of course, its…" Eren gave her the digits, and in return she gave him her parent's as well. When they were done, she sighed a bit, loud enough for Eren to hear, "You're relieved?"

"Oh sorry, it's just…"

"Don't worry about it, my parents were gonna start bugging me about that too," said Eren chuckling.

Mikasa finally took the moment to sit down on her bed, but something was odd. She had got what she wanted, so she should have hanged up already; but for some reason, she continued to stay on the phone as she listened to his voice.

"You know our parents could have just done this themselves. It would be a whole lost less awkward, right?"

"Yeah," said Mikasa allowing Eren to speak his mind.

"Oh, and if not's an emergency you can just text me. Though, I probably won't answer the text right away," Eren lied, if it was a text from her, he would answer it in a heartbeat. In truth, he would just much rather hear her voice that read some words on a telephone screen.

"Okay, I'll remember that."

"Same thing if it's my parents, they prefer that you call them. There kind of old, you know?"

A small chuckle arose from Mikasa, but it was not loud enough for Eren to hear it. "My parents are the same, just call them."

"Okay, but seriously, this was all probably unnecessary if our parents just did this, huh? I mean, I don't have a problem with it…unless you do."

"No…I think they were trying to get us to become friends," Mikasa's eyes drifted towards her toes, a similar feeling came upon her. But Eren's next words would completely take her by surprise.

"Are we?"

For a brief moment, neither of them made a sound. Two days, two long, eventful, and dramatic days is what it took to have Eren thinking about the girl he saw at the park and for Mikasa to be flustered whenever he is involved. For some, this happens immediately and for others, it takes much longer; but in just two days, the two of them created a new friendship.

"Yeah, I think so…What about you?" Her parent's constant concern over her in a new city made her seek an ally that would ease their pain. But she didn't need to look far, because he was right next door. She crossed her feet waiting for Eren's response.

"D-Defintely! I mean…" His sudden outburst brought Mikasa's head up like a lightning bolt. As for Eren, he mentally slapped himself for the brash response, "Yes, I'm fine with that if you are."

"Mm," responded Mikasa. A part of her was contemplating whether she would ask him to show her where the school was, but she ultimately decided that she would be able to find it on her own. "I have to go, sorry for bothering you…I guess I'll see you at school tomorrow."

"No bother at all, and I'll see you tomorrow too."

Mikasa placed the phone on her lap as she looked to the side of her bed. "What do you think, Luna, is he going to be a good friend?" Only one eye was shown through Luna's blonde fur, and even that eye couldn't care less about it.

"I think he will, and…I think everything will go smoothly now," said Mikasa as she headed downstairs, finally eating the food that her mom left her with.

Eren stoop up from his bed, a bright smile spread across his face, "I'll see you tomorrow."

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**Next chapter will be at the school. Let's see what happens there :D. Again, check profile for updates and I'll see ya later.**


	5. Sometimes We Forget

**YAY! Another chapter! Sorry, about how long this one took, so for you patience I made this one pretty long :) Enjoy the chapter!**

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Sometimes We Forget

Mikasa has never allowed the chilly weather in the morning to have an effect on her body. The small drops of snow were not helping her either. Her morning runs were evident on how resilient her body was, but today it was different. She was a little nervous, as is always the case when going to a new school. It took a lot of energy to make sure that no one walking near her would notice. Meanwhile, the freezing air blind sided her and forced her body to shake uncontrollably. _Perhaps I should have brought the scarf, _she thought to herself. The sudden rush to get to school early, completely took her mind off of everything else. After all, she thought it would be a good idea to see where everything was from inside the school. When she found the school yesterday, she was hoping to get a more interior look, but realized that it was closed. A lot more secure than her previous school was.

As she walked around the corner, her eyes drifted to the school building that was beginning to take shape in the distance. Shiganshina Middle School, a small school that matched perfectly with the small city. Mikasa didn't think it was necessary to worry about fitting in since it was already the middle of January, and the fact that she was in the eighth grade. Soon, she will be going to high school where new challenges would surely arise, but for now she would focus on getting through the present.

Walking in to the school building, she saw the empty hallways and the green lockers that gave her a familiar feeling. Even with the small collection of dust, it was still a lot nicer than her old school.

"Excuse me," a voice came from her side as she turned around towards the source. "You're a little early today, the janitors still need to clean this hallway, and so can you stand outside for a bit?" By the looks of what the man was wearing, Mikasa figured it was a teacher.

"Um, I'm a new student. I need to find the school office."

The man got a sudden realization, "Oh, you must be Mikasa Ackerman. Sorry, follow me, I'll help you get straightened out."

Mikasa followed him towards a room, presumed to be the office, stopping at the front of a desk.

"Here you go, this is your class schedule…and your books…and your PE clothes…oh, and your locker combination. If there are any questions, feel free to ask any of the teachers. After school, you need to go see the principal. Understand?"

Mikasa held the brunt of the weight on her forearms as she responded to him, "Yes, I understand."

Then, a tall blonde man came out of a nearby room noticing the girl with all the books in her hands, "Hey, Mark, don't let the girl hold all this stuff."

"Oh, Hannes. Sorry, I got carried away. This is good chance though, Mikasa. This is Hannes, he is your first period teacher." Mark walked towards Hannes, still ignoring the heavy books in Mikasa's hands, "Think you show your new student around?"

Hannes sighed as she walked towards Mikasa, grabbing all of the books from her hands, "Come on missy let's go."

Mikasa quickly followed his side, "Um, I can carry those books."

"Don't push yourself, these books are heavy. So, where is your locker," Mikasa showed him the numbers, "Hm, looks like it's in the other wing of the building."

After finding the locker, and placing the books in it, Hannes showed Mikasa each classroom in her schedule. Meanwhile, students were beginning to file in the building, "Looks like school is going to start in a bit." Mikasa followed Hannes closely, a familiar face passing by. _Isn't that the guy at the store? _

"Come on Jean, show us how much money you made this time," said a male student.

"If you guys want to get money like me, then get a job," said Jean smugly.

"You're lucky your uncle owns that store. You're the only the student here who can get a job," said Connie.

As Mikasa began to turn back towards Hannes, another familiar voice came up.

"What are you guys arguing about?"

"Eren, Jean thinks he is better than us," said Connie.

_Eren! _Mikasa immediately turned her head around, not noticing that Hannes had stopped moving.

"Watch out. School hasn't started yet and you're already daydreaming?"

"Sorry," Mikasa rubbed her head a bit as she listened to Hannes.

"Stay out here until I tell you to come in. I want you to introduce yourself to the class, but don't worry, they'll be introducing themselves to you too." Hannes walked in shutting the door behind him, as Mikasa stood patiently outside.

"You seriously piss me off, you know that Eren," said Jean as he walked alongside Connie and Eren.

"If you wouldn't act like the king of the castle, you'd be more fun to hang out with," said Eren.

Mikasa wasn't really sure what came over her sudden reaction to avoid seeing Eren, but she figured it was probably for the best.

"Hey Jean, Eren, you guys want to play some soccer after school? Some of the other guys are gonna play too," said Connie. The three boys walked in the classroom as they took their seats.

"Yeah, I'm down," said Eren.

"I got to check my shift," said Jean trying to remember his work schedule.

"There you go again man," said Connie.

"Sorry if I have more responsible life than you, Mr. I can't find my shorts."

As the two of them were arguing, Eren's mind drifted back to what he was thinking about all morning. _I wonder if she is here already. I mean she probably is here, but in a different class. After all, there was a small chance that she would have the same schedule as me. I'd be lucky if we even shared one class._

The hallways were empty once again, and Mikasa could hear the sounds from the other side of her classroom door. _At least Eren was in the class_, she thought to herself. Then, the classroom noise died down, as only Hannes' voice could be heard.

"Quiet everyone. Connie, Jean, have your argument after class," Hannes cleared his throat as he proceeded, "I know it's a little late in the year, but we have a transfer student joining us."

Some of the students began mumbling to each other, "A new student? The school year is almost half way done…Yeah and we'll be going to high school after this year."

Eren's ears perked up at Hannes' news, a sudden feeling of eagerness flowed through his body. _It has to be her_, he thought to himself.

Hannes motioned his head around towards the door, "Alright come on in."

As the classroom door opened up, the entire class saw the raven-haired girl walk slowly towards the front. Some of the girls had their mouths a little opened by the sudden glow that Mikasa presented. While some of the boys, grew a little flustered at the sight.

"Mikasa," whispered Eren as was trying to keep his composure.

"Go ahead," said Hannes giving the signal for Mikasa to start introducing herself.

"Hello, my name is Mikasa Ackerman."

Hannes spoke up once again, "I want each of you to introduce yourselves and don't joke around…Connie."

Eren's leg would not stop jittering as he waited for his turn to introduce himself. When it finally was, he stood up from his chair looking straight at Mikasa eyes, making sure that she saw him, "I'm Eren Jaeger, and it's nice to meet you…Mikasa Ackerman." Mikasa returned his gaze as she nodded happily.

"Okay, treat her well and keep your hands to your self boys. Especially you Jean, stop drooling," said Hannes, "

It was lunchtime, and Eren was having a serious problem. He really wanted to talk to Mikasa, but the other students always surrounded her. While eavesdropping on the conversation around her, he knew this would be the only time he would get to see her, because first period was the only class they shared. It was also unfortunate that he sat far away from her in that class and to make matters worse, an annoying horse was getting in the way.

"That was the girl I met in the store, what are the odds," said Jean staring at said girl.

"She is something else, even the girls are all over her," said Connie.

Eren took a bite out of his sandwich as he tried to ignore their conversation.

"Hey Eren, what do you think about the new girl," said Connie.

"What are you asking him for Connie? He doesn't care about girls, remember what happened with Christa?"

"Shut up Jean, I remember what you said to her. How did it go again…oh yeah, 'I-I'll just give you the change, don't worry about it' something like that," Eren smirked as Connie laughed at his impression of Jean.

A sudden realization clicked for Jean, "Ah! You were at the store too, I forgot about that. You got in the way, man."

"I didn't get in the way of anything," said Eren.

Connie grabbed both of their soldiers, "Wait, so Eren was there too? I guess the two of you have met Mikasa before anyone else did."

_Actually, I met her before Jean, kind of, _Eren said to himself as he walked away from the two of them, losing interest in their conversation.

"Eren, where are you going?" said Connie.

"Restroom," said Eren not looking back.

Things were relatively the same a few days later, some students were still surrounding Mikasa and Eren could not find an opening to talk to his neighbor. Even after school, he couldn't find the opportunity because she was either doing something school related, or she was being dragged to go somewhere with some of the girls in their class. For Eren, it felt like their encounter this past weekend, never happened.

Then, one day at lunchtime, as Eren was walking towards the cafeteria, he saw Mikasa sitting by herself on one of the outdoor benches. She was eating her lunch in the cold air, but it didn't seemed like any of that fazed her. He didn't let it bother him, however, because he was rather happy to finally get the chance to talk to her.

"Mikasa?" said Eren approaching Mikasa cautiously.

Mikasa took her focus away from the food and towards Eren, "Eren, how are you?"

"How am I? Uh, okay I guess. How are you?"

"I'm fine," Mikasa returned to her lunch, chewing on the rice before her.

"Can I sit down?"

Mikasa moved to the side, signaling to him that it was okay.

As Eren plopped down next to her, a slight shiver rose from his body, "Are you sure you want to eat out here?"

"I'm almost done and it's not that bad."

Eren wasn't sure, but he knew something wrong. "You were pretty popular earlier this week, it seemed like everyone wanted to be your friend."

Mikasa continued to nibble at her food, only nodding at his statement.

"So…what happened?" Eren thought that it was none of his business, but he figured if Mikasa had gotten hurt, then his parents would never let him hear the end of it. After all, Mikasa and Eren's parents were pretty much buddies and they would probably tell each other everything. "I mean, where is everybody at?"

"I don't know, I guess there in the cafeteria. It is lunchtime."

"I know that, but I thought that you would be with them."

"Nope." Eren was getting a little irritated at Mikasa's responses; he was starting to remember again how complicated this girl was.

Noticing that she wasn't getting the hint, Eren decided to be more direct, "Did you get in a fight with any of them?"

Mikasa finally finished her lunch as she wiped her mouth with the napkin in her pocket. Eren was beginning to think that he was sticking his nose where it didn't belong.

Mikasa stood up and walked towards a nearby trash can as she cleared her throat, "They just sort of stopped hanging around me."

"They stopped?"

"I didn't really notice at first, but the number of people around me just diminished, and then there was no one."

Eren was still unsure of what to make of this, so he let her finish. "I'm not really surprised though, this happens frequently when I'm around people."

"You mean people start shying away from you?"

"Yeah, something like that." Eren felt a little relieved at the situation, mostly because the other guys didn't do anything and because she wasn't getting in any kind of argument with the girls. If it had been the latter, he would have steered clear from that situation.

Mikasa noticed Eren's sighing, "You're happy that I'm alone?"

Eren staggered a bit as he stood up from the bench, "No! I'm sorry, I was thinking of something else." He dusted off some frost from his pants as he continued, "I'm sure its nothing, though. They will be talking to you again, just like before." His voice was a little saddened at his last remark.

The bell rang for the next class period to start. "I'll see you later, Mikasa," said Eren as he turned towards the school building. Mikasa nodded as they both went their separate ways.

The next week at school, Eren figured that the other students would swarm Mikasa again. But he noticed that some of the girls who talked to Mikasa earlier on, were not with her. Seeing as how Mikasa would give him an answer that he wouldn't understand, he decided to confront these girls. "Excuse me, but don't you guys hang out with Mikasa?"

"Mikasa? Oh, well, we use too, but…" The girl turned her head towards another student next to her, "She was a little too brooding sometimes."

Another girl chimed in, "We were trying to get to know her, but she always had this somber attitude when she talked with us. It was kind of scary."

_What the hell does that mean? _Eren thought to himself as he excused himself from the girls. At lunch, Eren sat down with Jean and Connie, both of them talking about soccer.

"I'm telling you it was a great game," said Connie.

"I'll check it out later, " said Jean munching on his food.

"Yeah, those kinds of games make you want to play, but the snow is covering the field right now," said Connie looking at the window.

Eren scanned the cafeteria, no sight of Mikasa anywhere, _is she outside again?_

"Hey, Eren, you there?" Connie taped Eren's shoulder, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Sorry…hey, you think that Mikasa is unavoidable?" said Eren.

"Huh? What's with this all of a sudden?" said Connie.

Jean interrupted the two of them, "Not you too, all the other guys said the same thing. I even overheard some of them saying that she is kind of scary. It kind of ticked me off."

Connie doubted Jean's assumption, "Right, but you haven't talked to her, so you wouldn't know."

"I am going to talk to her soon, just waiting for the right moment."

With that, Eren got up from his seat and walked out of the cafeteria.

"Where the hell is he going?" said Jean.

Eren walked hastily to the bench where she saw Mikasa last time, but when he got there, she was missing. There wasn't much time before the next class started, so he went back inside the building and started running.

"Hey, Eren! No running in the halls!" yelled Hannes.

"I'm sorry Hannes, but it's important. I'll apologize properly later!"

Eren zipped up the stairs, leaving Hannes behind, "Geez."

On the second floor, Eren briefly stopped as he mumbled to himself, "I'm doing this for you, the least you can do is show yourself." Just then, Eren looked out the window, and on the slope leading to the soccer field, he saw the familiar black hair and red scarf clearly. She was sitting there, alone, with the white snow around her.

"Thank you for the meal," said Mikasa as she wiped her mouth with the napkin in her pocket. Just as she was about to walk back toward the school building, she was meet with a pair of concerned green eyes. "Eren, what are you doing here?"

Eren calmed his breathing, "I-I just want you to know."

Mikasa waited patiently as she figured Eren was going to say something profound.

"That you don't have to worry about them, you'll get a chance to make more friends, better friends."

Mikasa had a quizzical look as she responded, "Um, thank you, but it's not really that big a deal."

"What are you talking about? Don't you want to meet someone new and have a friend you can talk to?"

"But, I already have a friend," Mikasa drifter her eyes away from Eren.

"Who?"

"…You."

Eren's eyes widened, as a thump sound rose from his chest at the unexpected response.

"Did you already forget?" said Mikasa. At that moment, Eren recollected the conversation they had over the phone, _I'm such an idiot._

Eren brought his hands up to his forehead, covering his eyes, "Sorry, I forgot about that. When I saw you with all those people, it sort of left my mind."

Eren smiled, still covering his eyes, as Mikasa, who was still facing away, reassured his concern, "I didn't forget, and you don't have to worry about meeting new people here. It would be pointless, because the school year is almost done."

"Yeah, I see what you mean, so even if you don't make any other friends here…I'll gladly be your only one," said Eren bringing his hand down revealing his bright smile

A small smile tugged at Mikasa's lips when she heard that. She brought her head back up towards Eren, their eyes in line with one another. What happened next, completely got each of them flustered. Mikasa saw his green eyes being highlighted by the background of the white snow, and his smile brought about an odd feeling in her chest. Eren thought he saw a red tint skate across Mikasa' check, but decided not to ruin this moment by over thinking it. The bell rang, soon afterwards, as both young teens snapped out of their daze.

"Next class is starting, I better go," said Mikasa, "thank you, Eren."

As she proceeded to walk back to class, Eren halted her, "After school, do you want to walk home together?"

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**Before you leave! I have a question if anyone can answer, when writing multiple dialogues from multiple characters (more than two, characters are side characters in the background) at once, is it best to separate them into separate quotation marks (this would also need to be addressed who said what) or put them together in one quotation mark. Sorry for the trouble, Google is giving me different answers ha. Let me know what you guys think. Thanks for reading! Hope you liked it and check my profile for updates! See ya later.**


	6. Which One?

**Yay, chapter 6 is here! Hope you guys like it :D**

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Which One?

Eren stood just outside of the school premises with his back against a nearby wall. The freezing air was persuading him to go home already, as he played with the tiny sheet of snow between his feet. As student after student passed by him, jitters skated across his body waiting for the arrival of one Mikasa Ackerman.

"_After school, do you want to walk home together?"_

_Mikasa slowly turned, thinking about Eren's proposal, "…Um."_

"_I mean…we live next door to each other. We'll be bound to walk next to each other sooner or later anyways," he said._

_Mikasa thought for a moment, but ultimately agreed with Eren's case, "I suppose you have a point…okay then."_

Eren picked up his backpack that was beginning to slant down the side of his shoulder, as he thought about that conversation. "This is not a big deal," mumbling to himself, "it's like we are walking in the same direction." Suddenly, Jean and Connie approached him.

"Eren? Why are you still here?" said Connie.

"You're usually the first one to leave the school, not even waiting for us," said Jean.

Connie, all of a sudden, thought he had figured out Eren's reason, "Oh, so you decided to wait for us today? You're a good friend Eren."

Eren moved away from the wall, "You guys already cleaned up the classroom?" It was their turn for cleaning duty, and normally, Connie would make any task much longer and complicated than it needed to be. Because of that, Eren figured that he had been standing here for quiet a while.

"Yeah, I told Connie to just focus on one corner of the room. It worked itself out," said Jean.

"I'm not an idiot," said Connie.

"I didn't say you were, you just end up making a mess of things sometimes. Remember what happened with the arts &amp; crafts?"

"Yeah…I wasn't at the top of my game that day."

Jean sighed, already looking forward to going home, "So Eren, let's go man."

"Ah, sorry, I'm actually waiting…" he quickly thought of a white lie, "for my dad, he was going to give me a ride today."

Connie felt jubilant, "Sweet! You think your father can give us a ride home too?"

"Uh…actually, we were going to go somewhere else."

"Oh for real? Well, maybe next time," said Connie. As the two of them walked away, Eren could hear their distant voices.

"I knew he wasn't waiting for us," said Jean. "Aw, is someone a little sad," said Connie.

Eren neglected any further talks between the two of them, not noticing the raven-haired girl behind him.

"Eren?" _He's still here, _she thought to herself.

Eren nearly jumped out of his clothes as he quickly turned around, "Mikasa! When did you get here?"

"I just got out, sorry it took a while. You ready?"

"Yeah, let's go home."

The two of them walked side by side; the sounds of cars passing by didn't faze them from their own little world. They were the only students within the vicinity, and it made nearby adults look on in curiosity. Eren noticed this, and found it even more difficult to strike up a conversation. Mikasa, meanwhile, momentarily took her eyes away from her surroundings, bringing them upward. She noticed the change of hue in the sky, "I must have kept you waiting a long time. You should have just gone home without me."

"Yeah, it probably would have been best to just text you, but I didn't want to interrupt whatever it was you were doing in there," said Eren.

"Oh, I almost forgot I had your number. If it happens again I'll text you to leave without me," Mikasa averted her gaze back down from the sky.

_Eh, really? _He thought to himself. Eren, however, decided not to make a big deal of it, "Anyways, why were you in there so long?"

"I was speaking with Hannes, and he told me that there was a test coming up." Eren almost forgot about the test as Mikasa continued, "He thought it wasn't fair for me to take the test since I just transferred in."

"Yeah, that makes sense. So, you're going to take the test another day?"

"No, I'm going to take it with the rest of the class."

Eren's eyebrows rose up, "Why? Hannes said it would be unfair, right?"

"It's not a problem for me, the subject is the same as my last school. I told him that and he said 'okay, well let me at least tell you about some of the specific material.' So, that's why I was there for a while." Mikasa's unnerving confidence astounded Eren; it almost made him feel pathetic.

"I see. Still, there might be other things you don't know. I can help you study for a bit."

Eren wasn't sure if it was the cold or he that caused his cheeks to form a slight shade of red, but he didn't give it too much thought.

Mikasa pondered about Eren's offer until she decided, "No, I think I'll be fine on my own. Besides, I see you losing your focus during class."

Eren was a little taken a back, "What are you talking about?"

"I'm surprised the teachers haven't noticed you dozing off," Mikasa said with a stoic face.

"I don't do that all the time," said Eren, a little angry at Mikasa's assumptions. Still, Eren was also a little happy to learn that Mikasa had been watching him during class. He was feeling nervous before, but now, he really felt comfortable to talk to her about a lot of things.

"By the way, what are you going to do after middle school?" he said.

"Go home like always," she said.

"No, I mean have you decided on which high school you want to go to? I know your still new around here, but since the school year is going to end soon, you should probably start picking one."

Mikasa was unaware of the importance of choosing a new high school, "So there is more than one high school around here? I don't think it matters, does it?"

As the two of them turned the corner, a clearing opened up with little to no buildings surrounding them. It seemed as though the two of them were taking the long route back home; and even though Mikasa noticed this, she didn't mind it at all. In fact, she quiet liked the view; it reminded her of jogging the other day and the thin blanket of white snow made it even more appealing.

Eren snapped her out of her thoughts, "Kind of, there are three of them." Mikasa turned her focus towards him as she listened intently.

"Rubeus High School, its mostly a technical school. They pretty much guarantee you a job after you graduate. Most people end up going there, because of the security."

"It makes sense, I would feel a lot less stressful knowing that," said Mikasa.

"The other one is Viridis Academy, they are the upper echelon school of not just Shiganshina, but pretty much the entire region."

"Why is that?"

"Well, aside from the wealth that the school has, their graduates end up becoming CEO's, managers, even Presidents."

Mikasa was a little shocked to hear such a school existed, "Almost seems unreal."

Eren turned to face her, "But it's not easy to get in; you need to be wealthy or have great connections. If you don't have either, then you might get in if your grades are outstanding, but its highly unlikely."

"I see, so what's the third school?" Neither of the two schools mentioned so far, really stood out for Mikasa. Even though both had their merits, she was still not sure about them. Suddenly, Eren jumped in front of her, taking her by surprise. His gleeful face was unexpected.

"The third one is Caeruleum High School, that's the one I'm going to," he said.

She stood still in front of him, hoping to find a reason why, "How come?"

"Well, from the outside it doesn't seem like much, in fact it doesn't have any special perks." Mikasa was already thinking that this school would be no different. "But, the people there are hard workers, and they are more prepared to face the real world than anybody."

_Real world, huh, _she thought to herself. Mikasa began walking again as Eren followed her. He wasn't sure, but he felt like something was bothering her and just when he was about to question it, she interrupted. "So, the real reason you want to go to Caeruleum, is because you can't go to Viridis," she said with a slight grin.

"No way! That's not true at all," said Eren with an irritant voice, "there is no way I will ever go there. Mikasa, are you listening to me?"

Her pace quickened as he tried to convince her, neither of them slowing down.

Several minutes later, they arrived at their respected homes; Mikasa was already heading inside, "I enjoyed the conversation, I'll think about those schools a little more. Thanks for the walk home, and again, I'm sorry for making you wait."

"I told you its fine," said Eren waving her off. As Mikasa nodded and turned around, he felt the need to stop her; there was more he wanted to say, "Wait, there is actually another reason why I want to go to that school." She looked back at him, not expecting another reason for his admiration of that school. "You see…there is someone I look up to that went there. And I know that person came back."

Like before, another odd feeling caused Mikasa's chest to tighten, but this one was different. It forced her to ask, "Why are you telling me this?"

"I didn't want to leave anything out, and…" Involuntarily, Mikasa held her breath as he continued; "I'm trying to tell you that my grades is not the reason for that." Eren crossed his arms, hoping that Mikasa would finally get the point.

_This boy is stubborn, _she thought to herself as a small chuckle left her mouth. That odd feeling disappeared as she waved him off to go home.

"Let's do this again tomorrow," said Eren. Mikasa replied with only a nod as she went inside and closed the door behind her.

The test had come and gone, and today, the students would either cry or laugh and their efforts.

"Oh man, that was super close, I've never been close to pissing my pants before today," said Connie.

"Yeah, good job getting one point above average," Jean said sarcastically.

Connie grabbed Jean's test out of his hands in anger, "What did you get, part-time worker." A few seconds later, Connie brought his head down in shame, tossing the paper in the air.

"Hey, be careful man. If I show my uncle, he might give me a raise," said Jean clutching the test.

"You're so lucky, forget you…Eren what did you get?" Connie was trying effortlessly to glance at Eren's test score.

"Oh, I got an 85."

"Really? That's five points better than Jean," said Connie who all of a sudden felt better.

"Tch, whatever," said Jean putting his test in his backpack. Then, he gave his input on Eren's score with a scowling face, "Don't you usually get higher scores than that? Did you lose your focus by sleeping again?"

"Oh yeah, you do that a lot Eren," said Connie.

_Eh, they noticed that too, _he thought to himself. "No, I just wasn't feeling it, I guess." There was actually a reason for that, but it was best that no one knew that Mikasa was living next door to him. In actuality, he couldn't study at all the night before, because of her cat meowing outside the window. Because of that, George felt the need to bark uncontrollably back at her. Eren, tried to get Mikasa's attention, but she was wearing her headphones the whole time. "Mikasa and Luna, what a pair," mumbled Eren.

"What was that Eren?" said Connie snapping Eren out of his thoughts.

"Oh, nothing."

The three boys suddenly overheard the nearby girls talking. "Mikasa, you are so smart!" "Yeah you got a perfect score plus extra credit for fixing a question! Nobody has ever done that, you have to study with us next time." Multiple girls crowded Mikasa, hoping to get a taste of her intelligence.

"T-Thank you," said Mikasa, who was beginning to blush a bit.

"Hey, did you hear that? Mikasa sure is amazing, she has only been here a few weeks and is already at the top," said Connie.

"She is definitely worthy for Jean Kirchstein," said Jean smirking.

"No, no, don't ever say that again," said Connie.

Meanwhile, Eren looked on figuring out how she could've studied with that entire racket last night.

The bell rang hours later as students prepared to leave for home. Ever since that day, Mikasa would see Eren waiting for her just outside of the school. And each time, he had to think of an excuse for why he was standing there to Jean and Connie. Mikasa thought that some of his excuses were funny, while others were pretty creative, so she was looking forward to hearing what he would say today. As she gathered her things and moved toward the exit, Hannes approached behind her, grabbing her shoulder. "Mikasa, can you come with me to the office."

"Oh, okay…um, is it going to take long?"

"Hm, I would think so. It's something important, afterall," said Hannes who began walking toward the office.

Mikasa looked back for a moment and decided that she didn't want Eren to suffer again. She took out her phone from the small pocket of her backpack to send a text message to him. _Eren, I have to do something and it will take a while, so just go on home without me. _

Eren continued to wait patiently, but suddenly found his side pants pocket ringing. Looking at the screen, a sudden feeling of euphoria enveloped him. It was the first time he got a text from Mikasa. Without wasting another second, he looked at the message she sent him and then, felt his euphoria die down. "Well, at least she remembered that she had my phone number." Eren sent her a quick text, _Okay then, I'll see ya tmrw. Let me know what you had to do, I'm curios lol. _With that, Eren closed his phone and began walking home.

Mikasa felt her phone vibrate and figured it was Eren. But before she could even think about opening her phone, she noticed that she was already at the office, with Hannes opening the door for her. "Come on in, Mikasa." She decided to look at it later.

Hannes sat in his desk, while Mikasa sat in nearby chair, waiting to hear the reason why she was here.

"The principal thought it would be a good idea that I tell you this since I'm your homeroom teacher, and because I'm the only teacher you talk to outside of class."

"Talk to me about what?" Mikasa allowed her hands to lie daintily on her lap.

"Have you thought about which high school you want to attend?"

"A little, why?"

"The principal and I think its best…that you go to Viridis Academy."

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**OOOoo Mikasa, which one. I think one chapter a week is good, there might be times I'll put more than one, but I think that's a good schedule for now lol. Thanks for reading, guys! See ya later! Check profile for updates!**


	7. What Can I Add

**Here is your reward for your patience, Chapter 7! This is a nice long chapter, so get comfortable, drink some tea, and enjoy :)**

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What Can I Add

School had long since ended when Mikasa walked down the usual street on the way home. At this point, some of the storeowners found it normal that she was the only student around this late in the day, but it didn't bother her. Not even the sounds around her could take her mind off of her recent conversation with Hannes.

"The principal and I think its best…that you go to Viridis Academy."

Mikasa stared at him with unblinking eyes, questioning why this was being brought up, "I'm not sure where this is coming from, and I've only just recently heard about the high schools."

Hannes stood up from his desk, "So you know about the choice you have to make. Then you must know why Viridis is a great choice."

She took her eyes away from him, almost as if she was seeking help, "But I—"

"I know it's unfair to have you make a decision so soon," he said interrupting her, "but you did come here late in the school year and it is an important decision that will affect your life."

She began twiddling with her thumbs as she asked him, "Did you have to make such a decision?"

He thought for moment, organizing his thoughts, and responded, "Well, I lived in Shiganshina for most of my life, and that included my time being a student." He walked towards his window as he was recollecting his past, "I chose Rubeus High School; my father wanted me too, and others thought it was the most obvious choice." Mikasa looked on at the man as he continued, "Who wouldn't want to have a job lined up right after you're done with school. It just makes the stress go away."

"So, you did what others told you?" she said.

Expecting a harsh response, Mikasa was surprised to hear Hannes laugh at her comment, "I guess that's one reason, but it's not the only one." He pulled out his chair as he sat back down to lean back on it, "I was going to pick that school anyways. I chose it, because it had the tools I needed to be a teacher."

"I see," said Mikasa feeling a little more relaxed than earlier.

"So, enough about me," Hannes leaned on to the desk, grasping his hands together, "the reason the principal, and myself, think you should go is because you have outstanding marks on your assignments, and from the transcript I've seen from your previous school, it's not a fluke."

"Well, my last school made it easy for me to focus on my work, but I'm aware that good grades alone is not a guarantee to get accepted."

"Yes, but there is a small chance. And if you are giving such a chance, why not take it?"

Mikasa was still not sure, "Aside from who gets in and who doesn't, I really don't know much else about the school."

Hannes responded, hoping to comfort the girl, "You have nothing to lose, do some research on it, and think about. But not too long, because the sooner you decide, the more I can do to help you. I might even help you get an interview."

The possibility of going to Viridis seemed more and more likely, and no longer an impossible vision. There was a chance, though small, that she could get in. Mikasa stood up from her chair, understanding Hannes request, "O-Okay, I'll do that…thank you, Mr. Hannes."

"Of course," Hannes walked towards the door to open it for her, "I'll see you tomorrow." She waved him goodbye, hoping that she would give him an answer by then.

The street was beginning to pack up, as Mikasa continued to walk towards her home still entranced by her thoughts, _Even in a different city, more problems arise._

She sighed, while walking passed the stores around her, as she allowed her mind to wander, _what would Eren think about this? I know he hates Viridis, so he might start hating me as well._

The thought of Eren hating her brought upon a small wave of depression. She had made a friend that was also her neighbor, and she didn't want to lose that. How quickly she met someone like him in a new place, astounded her. And as she was so deep in her thoughts, she didn't notice that she was no longer on the business street, and was now approaching oncoming traffic. _I guess I shouldn't tell him yet, but I could use some help. _The noise of an oncoming vehicle shook her out of her thoughts; she was standing in the middle of the street. She froze, staring at the car's headlights, as they grew brighter and brighter, while each second passed by slower and slower. It was far too late for any part of her body to react. _Somebody…._

"Mikasa!" Eren catapulted as he grabbed her and landed on the other side of the road. As soon as they were safe, he sat up to hastily check on her, "Mikasa, are you all right?"

She sat up slowly, making sure that nothing was wrong. "I-I'm fine," her eyes drifted to Eren's arms, "Y-You're bleeding! You need to go to the hospital!"

"It's just a scratch, don't worry about," he said as he wiped off the blood with his shirt.

"It's not just a scratch! You need to get it checked now," she said.

"I told you it's fine. More importantly, what the hell were you doing! Do you not look where you're walking? I know you haven't lived here long, but you have to be careful."

She looked down, realizing that she had almost got them both killed. "I-I'm sorry, Eren…I'm really sorry," her eyes were starting to water, "please don't hate me."

Eren was a little surprised at her last remark, "Hate you? I'm not going to hate you over this, Mikasa." He stood up slowly, stretching his back and then helping her back up to her feet, "Just, don't do that again."

Some onlookers passing by ran up to check on the two teenagers, "Are you guys all right? We can call an ambulance."

Eren quickly waved them off, "Uh, no its okay, we are fine."

"Eren," Mikasa's tone was a little soft, she wanted him to go to the hospital.

Eren whispered to Mikasa, "It's fine."

"Are you guys sure?"

"Yeah, its okay, thanks though," said Eren.

"Alright then, be careful next time." As the people walked away, Eren and Mikasa headed towards a nearby bench.

"T-Thank you, Eren, I don't know how else to repay you," said Mikasa.

"You don't need to that," said Eren.

The two of them sat down, Eren was still wiping the blood off of his arm. Mikasa, seeing this, grabbed a handkerchief from her bag and began wiping the blood from his arms.

"H-Hey, I told you, you don't have to do anything," Eren blushed a little, not expecting this from her.

"Please, at least let me do this," she said as he relented.

He sat there patiently and every time she wiped down his arm, his blush would deepen; it was enough to make him avoid any kind of eye contact with her. After a few minutes of silence, she finally spoke up, "I thought you had already gone home."

"I-I was reading some comics at the bookstore over there. The new issue of my favorite comic was out." Eren felt a little guilty, because that wasn't the real reason he had not gone home yet. Truthfully, on his way back home, he was debating whether he should have just waited for Mikasa even though she told him to leave. Ultimately, he decided to walk around the stores waiting for Mikasa to show up; and after the awkwardness resonating from the store owners, he finally decided to go home. That was until he saw her walking towards the busy street.

"I see, I suppose it's a good thing you didn't," said Mikasa as she finished cleaning his arm, "done."

"Thanks." As Mikasa tossed the handkerchief in the trash, the two walked back home. And on the way back, Eren wanted to change the subject, "So, what were you doing this time at school?"

Mikasa was hesitant to tell him anything at first, but after their recent brush with death, that feeling had already went away, "Hannes wanted to talk to me about which high school I was going to join."

Eren wasn't expecting that, "Really? So, you've decided already?"

"No, I'm still not sure; but Hannes, and the principal, think I should go to Viridis Academy. Hannes thinks I have a chance," she said. Mikasa peeked at Eren, waiting to see any kind of reaction from him.

"Wow, I guess you have an important decision to make," he said nonchalantly.

She wasn't sure why, but she felt a little hurt at his simple response, "Yeah."

The two of them finally reached their respective homes, but before they parted, Eren spoke up, "Mikasa." He really wanted to say more about her decision to choose a school, but he soon felt it wasn't a good idea to get involved with her decision.

"What is it?" said Mikasa.

"A-Ah…Nevermind, I'll see you tomorrow." With that, he waved goodbye as she returned the gesture.

Later that day, Mikasa had done all the research she could do on the Internet about Viridis High School. They all pretty much said the same thing: top school in the region, fortune 500 companies born here, the best go here. It was starting to sound like a broken record to her; but still, the atmosphere at a place like that would probably be out of this world. Luna walked across Mikasa's legs as she rubbed her back in return. With all this researching, she figured she needed a break.

"Mikasa! Dinner is ready," said Mikasa's mother. _Great timing, _Mikasa thought to herself. After she stretched her body, she walked downstairs, Luna following behind her, where both of her parents had already begun eating.

"Do you have a lot of homework today Mikasa? You've been up in your room since you got back from school," said her mother.

Mikasa pulled up a sit and began eating, "No, I'm just doing some research."

"Research on what? Oh, sorry Luna," her mother almost forgot to feed Luna.

"About Virids High School."

"What's that?" her mother was not aware of such a school.

However, Mikasa's father knew about such a place, "Viridis? That school is something else. Are you interested in going there?"

"Eh, dad, you know about it?"

"Grisha told me about it. I asked him where he went to school one day, and he said he went to Viridis." _Eren's father, _thought Mikasa. Eren and Hannes had both said that it's nearly impossible, so Grisha must be an important person, Mikasa figured. "I was surprised to hear that such a school existed, and now he is trying to get Eren to go."

"Eren? But he wants to go to Caeruleum," said Mikasa, surprised to hear that.

"That's what Grisha told me too, but I guess he just wants the best for him. I think so too, so I'd be really happy if you decided to go there too, but it's pretty difficult to get in."

Mikasa placed her fork down, "Well, one of my teachers believes I can get it. He said my grades might give me a chance."

Her father stopped chewing, "Eh, really? It's settled then, you should definitely go for it. Your mother and I will help you as much as you can."

"Wait a second, dear, Mikasa is still not sure about. Are you?"

"No, I'm still thinking it over."

"Right, don't let anyone force you to go. Choose wherever you want to go, right honey?" said Mikasa's mother staring at her mother.

"Uh, yeah, sorry sweetie I went a little overboard," her father said with an apologetic face. "But if you still want to know more, I think talking with Grisha will help a lot. After all, he is the only one we know of that went there." Mikasa nodded in agreement as she returned to her meal.

Upstairs in her room, Mikasa lied on her bed as she twirled her phone around her fingers. She was contemplating whether to text Eren now, or to just call his father tomorrow. It didn't help her decision when Luna decided to choose Mikasa's stomach as her new sleeping arrangement. But she didn't mind, and soon decided to text Eren first:

Mikasa:_ Hey r u busy?_

Eren was in the middle of watching TV when he got Mikasa's message. The alert on his screen made him sit up straight as he calmly responded:

Eren:_ Not at all, what's up?_

Mikasa:_ I was wondering if I could talk to your father about something._

Eren:_ Is it about Viridis?_

Mikasa: _Yeah, my father told me he went to Viridis and I want to hear his experience there._

Eren had not responded for a while after that, and Mikasa was beginning to regret asking him first. Maybe it would have been best to just call Grisha privately. Suddenly, her phone pinged.

Eren: _Yeah its fine, he said he could talk to you tmrw._

She was relieved to see his response.

Mikasa: _Sounds good, I'll see him tmrw. Thank you._

Eren: _No problem :)_

Eren got up from the couch and started walking up to his room, but not before reminding his father, "I'll bring her by right after school."

Grisha nodded in agreement as Eren left to his room, planning to sleep early for today.

The next day after school, the two young teenagers walked side by side as they were getting ever so closer to Eren's house. There wasn't much conversation between the two of them on the walk back, as neither of them really didn't know what to say. Eren figured that Mikasa had a lot of things on her mind, most of which would be directed at his father. While Mikasa, on the other hand, thinks that Eren doesn't want to hear anymore about Viridis. But after the longevity of unspoken words, Eren's house finally came into view.

"We're here…come on in, my dad's waiting," said Eren intentionally walking ahead of her. She followed him inside, and as she took her shoes off, she realized that this was the second time she's been in here. The smell was different than last time, it was homier and when she breathed it in, she felt her whole body relax.

"It's the plants," said Grisha to a surprised Mikasa.

"M-Mr. Jaeger, e-excuse me?"

"The plants, they bring in a lot of oxygen that relieve stress. It's always nice to have a few around in your house," said Grisha smiling at the girl.

Eren poked his head out of the kitchen, "This is more than a few dad."

Grisha chuckled at his sons remark, "I suppose, but if your mother is okay with it, then it's fine." He turned back to Mikasa, "Come, Mikasa, I believe you wanted to speak to me about something." He guided Mikasa to the living room where she picked a comfortable chair to sit on.

When the two were comfortable, Eren approached them with some tea and set them on the table in front of them. "Here, it's hot so be careful. I'm going to head out for a bit with George, he needs to go outside anyways."

"Eren, you don't have to leave, I'm sure Mikasa doesn't mind…do you, Mikasa?" said Grisha.

Mikasa stared at Eren deeply as if she was hoping he would stay, "I don't mind."

"It's alright, I probably have nothing to add anyways," Eren slipped his shoes as he waited for George, "come on George. Dad, tell mom I'll be back soon." With that Eren left, not waiting to hear another word from either of them.

_But you do have something to add, _Mikasa thought to herself.

"That boy…sorry, Mikasa," said Grisha as picked up the cup of tea in front of him. "So, you want to know about my time in Viridis."

Mikasa mimicked his actions, "Yes, but first of all, how did you get in? Are you really rich? Or are you related to royalty?"

Grisha chuckled at the girl's assumptions, "Well, I make good money, and I don't believe I am royalty."

"Then, how did you get in?"

"I suppose it was my grades that got me in." Mikasa couldn't help but notice that his tone faded a bit. "Well, to be honest, I'm still surprised I got in. I applied like my teachers told me to, and one day I got a letter telling me I got accepted. It was an opportunity that I couldn't pass up, so I went." A long sigh escaped his mouth, "Though it's strange, because since then, I have been the only one who got in based on my grades and without any ties to wealth or royalty."

Seeing as how that was all Grisha knew about that, Mikasa changed the subject, "So, how was your school life there?" She really wanted to know if her research on the inner working of the school was true.

"Well, everything about it was extraordinary; the classes, the equipment, the overall environment was very high class."

"You probably felt out of place then right?"

"At first, of course. But later on it became natural, I assimilated into the school just like everyone else."

"It seems unthinkable that such a school would be perfect."

"I wouldn't say its perfect at all."

Mikasa placed her cup down, intrigued to know that this school had a flaw, "What do you mean?"

Grisha took a sip before responding, "Virids is the best institution, but because of the constant demand for superiority, it is not a place to have great memories."

Meanwhile, Eren was breathing heavily as George circled around him. The two of them ran around the block, along a couple of streets, and several times around the park before stopping. "What am I doing," said Eren glancing at his blonde terrier, "you don't think this is stupid do you?" George responded with a panting sound as is tail wagged furiously. "Of course you don't, as long as you're outside the house you don't care, good boy," said Eren petting him. Still, the feeling was gnawing at Eren, because even though he didn't like Viridis, he could've at least stayed for Mikasa's sake. It was rather immature of him to abandon his friend like that.

Eren motioned to a nearby bench, with George in tow as the two sat down to gather their breaths. What can he say that would help Mikasa with her situation; would she even want to hear it in the first place? If there were anything he could do, it would be to persuade her not to choose Viridis, because it unsettled him to no end. He didn't want to have his friend, the girl she met that day in this park, to go to a school like that. "Oh man, I'm acting like a kid again," mumbled Eren. "I shouldn't be thinking like that. Mikasa should go where she wants too, especially if it will make her life much better." Eren stood back up facing George eye to eye, "Race you home."

"Memories," said Mikasa.

"Yes, you see I never really made any friends there, in fact no one did. People were only together, because of the connections they could use in the future. Everyone had a business mindset."

"So, why do you want Eren to go?" The sudden question surprised Grisha as he placed his cup down on the table.

"How do you know about that?"

"My father told me," Mikasa was careful to keep her tone respectful.

"Ah, yes, I remember telling him now," said Grisha taking his glasses off to wipe the frames, "it doesn't matter anymore, though, Eren is determined to go to Caeruleum." Putting his glasses back on, he figured he would give his assumption of Eren's decision, "He has many reasons why he chose Caeruleum, but I think it's because he feels that Viridis will only cage him in. I suppose he likes to be free, just like his mother."

Mikasa recollected his conversation with Eren. When he talked about Caelereum, it was with high spirits and she liked seeing him when he was happy.

"Like his mother, huh."

A small smile formed on Grisha's lips "I guess if it wasn't for Caeruleum, I wouldn't have met the love of my life."

"Eh, Mrs. Jaeger went to Caelereum?"

Grisha nodded, "I met her on a joint field trip with the other two schools. I think if I had decided to go to Caeruleum, I would have made more memories with Carla."

Suddenly, the sound of the door unlocking perked Mikasa's ears. It was Carla who had came back from work, "Oh, Mikasa, how are you?"

Mikasa stood up from her chair, "I'm fine, how are you."

"Very good, what are you two talking about?"

"Mikasa was just curious about something for school dear," said Grisha.

Mikasa picked up her bag as she turned around to face Grisha, "Thank you for talking with me about this, I think I have made my decision."

"Really? That's good to hear, if you choose Viridis, let me know. I could write a recommendation for you."

Mikasa smiled in agreement as she headed to the front door to put her shoes on.

"You're leaving already? I was going to bake some cake with some new frosting that I bought," said Carla.

The thought of a fluffy creamy sweetness enticed Mikasa, but she decided against it for now. "Thank you for the offer, but I should get back home." Mikasa waved goodbye to the Jaegers as she exited the house.

As she closed the door behind her, Mikasa felt that she could finally take a breath of fresh air. As much as how great Viridis is, it would still be a long shot for her to get accepted. Even with Hannes and Grisha's help, it wouldn't be a guarantee and she didn't want to be a burden to either of them. Besides, what she really wants to do, is to make new memories that will replace her past, and maybe make more friends. And even if she doesn't, she will have the comfort to know that Eren will be there with her. Just as she was halfway to her house, Eren and George appeared, both of them out of breath as they crouched down.

"Eren?"

Eren was panting as he looked up at Mikasa, "Hey, do you finish talking with my dad?"

"Yeah, he helped a lot."

Eren stood up glancing at the terrier beneath him, "George, go back inside." George resisted at first, but eventually followed Eren's orders as he paced inside with a disgruntled moan.

Eren returned his attention to Mikasa, "You've made your decision then."

"Yes, but…" Mikasa looked away finding it difficult to say these next words; but as she grabbed her left arm, she found the courage to speak up, "I want to know what you think, you haven't really told me your opinion on where I should go."

The chilly air around them made Eren wonder when this cold season would end, because as of now, it didn't seem like it would end anytime soon. After momentarily taking her eyes off of her to organize his thoughts, he spoke up with words that she didn't want to hear, "You have a great chance to get in and, even though it's a small chance, you should take it. Because if you do get in, you will have a great life…Mikasa, you should go to Viridis Academy."


	8. Long Time No See

**Here is chapter 8! Please enjoy, and let me know what you think :D**

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Long Time No See

For a brief moment, Mikasa was silent and motionless; she wasn't expecting an answer like that from Eren all of a sudden.

"Mikasa?" Eren's call prompted her to react.

"You…you want me to go to Viridis?"

"Y-Yeah." Eren's voice was a little hesitant, but he hoped that Mikasa would take his opinion seriously. "I mean…you'll do much better there."

"Then come with me." Mikasa's stern statement took him by surprise.

"What?"

"Come with me, Eren, don't go to Caeruleum."

Eren had heard her clearly, but it was still unbelievable, "What are you talking about? You know I want to go to Caeruleum and I'm sure my dad has already told you why I would never go to Viridis."

"But you said it yourself, if I'll do much better there—I mean, if I will have a better life there, then you will too."

"You're different from me, and I said that because I really do believe you can do great things."

Eren's continuous confidence in her was comforting as she proposed, 'Then I'll go with you."

"Didn't you hear me? You need to go to Viridis. I'm going to Caeruleum."

His relentless suggestion, however, was not so comforting, but hearing him talk gave Mikasa an assumption of why he was so determined. "You don't want me to go to the same school as you. Isn't that right?"

Eren immediately responded, "N-No that's not it at all! Aren't you listening to m—" He grabbed the back of his head as he sighed, trying to correct her misunderstanding, "I just don't want you to have any regrets. Even though I hate Viridis, it's still an elite school."

"I don't believe it is," said Mikasa quickly interrupting him, "From what I gathered from your father and even yourself at times, it doesn't seem like the perfect school that I keep hearing about. Which is why…" She momentarily paused hoping that Eren wouldn't get angry at her next statement, "I'm going to Caeruleum, I had decided to go there before I asked you, but I still wanted to hear your input."

Eren sighed once again, this time a lot deeper, "Are you serious? So, there was no point?"

"Didn't you hear me? I said I wanted to hear what you had to say," a small smile appeared across Mikasa's lips, making Eren blush a bit.

"You're complicated you know that?" he said.

"Look whose talking," said Mikasa as she started walking towards her house, "by the way, I can see what kind of person you are after hearing your opinion. It seems like you want to do things by yourself."

Eren's blush turned into one of embarrassment, "Whatever, you should really think about it some more though."

"I have been thinking about for a long time already, but if it will make you relax, I'll go visit the school for myself and actually see what's inside it."

"Hold on a sec, how are you going to get in, there not just gonna let you walk in there."

"I'll ask your father, he was a student there, so I'm sure he can pull some strings."

Seeing that she was determined, Eren felt the need to do something, "My father would probably leave you alone. I'm going with you."

**A few days later…**

Grisha is driving Eren and Mikasa towards Viridis High School after the two of them asked him to see if they could visit, to which he happily agreed.

"So, the two of you are seriously considering Viridis? Mikasa I can believe, but you Eren?" said Grisha.

They didn't tell Grisha that they were set on Caeruleum, and that the only reason they are going to visit Viridis, is to satisfy both Eren and Mikasa's matter.

"Sure, dad." Grisha wasn't stupid; he already knew that Eren was only going for Mikasa's sake.

"Oh, we're here." Viridis High school, a haven for the region's elites. Just from looking at the outside, you can see how advanced and rich this institution is. Even the gates were made of gold, with a handful of guards stationed there, one of which approached the car.

"State your name and business."

"My name is Grisha Jaeger. I called the principal of this school, Nile Dok, a few days ago about potential students."

The guard signaled to the others as they, in turn, glanced at their computer screens checking to see if this was the case. Once they were cleared, the guard returned towards Grisha, "You're free to go in, he'll be waiting for you inside."

Passing the golden gates, countless buildings were seen standing tall atop white stones. A gorgeous water fountain was only a fraction of the overall glamour that the school presented. As Grisha parked the car, Mikasa stepped out in awe, the pictures on the Internet could not compare.

"So, these are the potential students," said Nile who approached them. Taking a closer look with his judging eyes, he found a familiar face, "Well if it isn't Eren Jaeger, have you finally decided then?"

"He is still on the fence, I'm afraid," said Grisha.

"Hm, well regardless, he should have no problem getting in. We relish the idea of teaching descendents of past graduates. It's like we keep in the family, without having any interferences from outsiders." Nile walked up to face Eren as he offered his hand, "I look forward to your attendance here."

As his father nudged him to react, Eren returned the action, but not saying anything in return.

Nile then noticed the black-haired girl; Grisha had mentioned that there were two potential students, "As for you, Miss Ackerman, was it? Well, I think it's nice to see someone try their hardest at a near impossible task. But if I were you I would have a back up plan." As he turned around, Mikasa displayed an expression as if she was going to punch him; her eyes were narrowing.

As Grisha saw this, he grabbed Nile's attention with a paper in his other hand, "You might want to see her grades before you make any assumptions; after all, if I didn't think she could get in, I wouldn't have brought her."

Nile took the paper from Grisha's hand and as he scanned the document, a tiny bead of sweat rolled down the side of his head. "W-Well, looks like you are something else," said Nile as he then cleared his throat, "the school board will take a better look at it later."

"Before you do, I need to speak to you privately for a moment," said Grisha. "Eren, Mikasa, you two stay put until I get back." Grisha grabbed Nile as he guided him away from the young teenagers, but not before Nile signaled a couple of guards to watch over the two of them. As the adults went their own way, Eren was already disobeying his father's orders.

"Eren, where are you going? Your dad said to stay here," said Mikasa.

"I'm just going to get something to drink, I'll be right back."

Mikasa was planning on staying put, but all of a sudden felt thirsty too. It was definitely because she was thirsty and nothing else as she began to follow Eren.

"You know, I could just bring you back something," he said not even staring at the girl to his side.

"You would probably mess it up, besides you might end up getting lost," she said mimicking his actions. As they walked down the halls, they didn't notice Nile's Guards watching them intently, waiting for any kind of disruption the two would cause.

"I'm not going to get lost, I've been here before," said Eren.

"You have?" Mikasa glanced towards the side of his face.

"That Nile guy, along with many of the faculty here, want me to go here."

"Is it because of your father?"

"I don't know if he told you, but my dad was the best student during his time here. He became a doctor and was renowned throughout the region. His success gave even more credence to Viridis High School's system and the people who work here were rewarded, greatly."

Mikasa interpreted his claim, "They used him?"

"My father won't admit it, but I know they used him and they are still doing it even today; and now they are trying to do the same with me. The only thing the students are here is investments. It's a way for this place to be more globally recognized, and to continue gaining from the success of others."

It was unbelievable what she heard, though the fact that it came from Eren, made her believe in it strongly.

"Oh here it is," as Eren spoke up, Mikasa looked in front of her and saw what looked like a vending machine. However, this contraption was a lot more high class than it seemed. As she picked her wallet from her pockets, Eren waved her off, "Not necessary, look."

A small glass cup appeared in an open socket, dispensing clear water in the cup. Mikasa was a little baffled at the display before her as she saw Eren take a sip from the cup, "Just water? It seems like you can get anything from here."

"Yeah, just water. I mean seriously, would it kill them to put a drinking fountain," he said putting the glass back in the socket where it disappeared into the machine. "Go on."

Mikasa walked towards the machine cautiously, making sure not to do anything that would break it. Like before, it dropped down a glass cup and filled it with clear water, and as she took a sip, onlookers began to approach the two of them.

"Oh man, can you believe this, this girl wants to know how it feels like to be like us. I'm sorry, but we really mind outsiders using our perks, so why don't you go back where you crawled out from," said a Viridis student. A couple of other students were they're as well, all of them older than both Eren and Mikasa. Nile's guards that were following, didn't move a muscle, and decided to see what would happen.

Mikasa calmly placed the cup away, while Eren stood in front of her with a furious face, not showing fear against them as he said, "Apologize to her, now."

"Apologize for saying the truth? I don't think so, matter of fact why don't the both of you just leave. You're ruining the atmosphere here."

"Bastard, go to hell!" Eren clenched his fist.

Another Virids student, whose face grew dark, spoke up when he heard Eren's words, "You're annoying kid, looks like there is only one way to handle people like you."

"Likewise," Eren was prepared to strike, but was suddenly stopped by the warmth of Mikasa's hands touching his.

"Eren, don't. Its okay."

Eren looked back as he relaxed a bit from Mikasa's touch, "Mikasa."

A sudden burst of laughter was heard from the group of students, "What the hell? Now I've seen everything."

Eren's fury returned and even Mikasa was starting to find difficulty in holding back. But just before anyone acted once again, another Viridis student appeared. He must have been important, because the instigators ceased their laughter as he spoke up, "What's going on here?"

Eren looked at the student who appeared in front of him and grew wide-eyed.

"Clovis, these kids think they can do whatever they want, we were going to teach them a lesson."

As Clovis looked at the culprits, he also grew wide eyed, "Eren Jaeger?"

"Clovis Glas?"

"Well, well, I'm glad I came here to see what the commotion was all about. How long has it been, three years?"

He walked towards Eren, but was stopped by one of the students, "Clovis, there just kids. Let us deal with them."

"You need to shut up now. Don't get full of yourself, you're only a year older than them," he said, eliciting beads of sweat from the student's face. "Sorry about that, anyways, you finally decided to come here. Good choice."

Mikasa could not read this guy, his aura was chilling and it made her very uncomfortable. Since she was still holding Eren's hands, she uncontrollably gripped them harder. Eren sensed this as he responded to Clovis, "No I haven't. This school is toxic, I would rather die than come here."

"Be careful what you wish for, Eren. Though I guess it's for the best, you would probably make a ruckus of this school anyways."

Eren softly took his hand away from Mikasa's grip, "Don't worry, I'll be going to Caeruleum, so you can enjoy your caged life here."

As Clovis chuckled at Eren's remark, he glanced at Mikasa behind him, who was staring back at him closely. "And who is this pretty one behind you, if I may ask? Another troublemaker like you?"

Not waiting for Eren, she responded, "I'm Mikasa and you don't have to worry either, I'll be going to Caeruleum as well."

Clovis momentarily pondered and then mumbled, "Hmmm, like father, like son I see." He brought his wrist up to check his obsidian watch, "I still have time, say Eren, why don't we have a race like we used to do. I haven't seen you in so long, and it will make me really happy."

Mikasa grabbed Eren's shoulder, "We need to get back to your father."

Eren gently guided her hands off his shoulder, facing her as he said, "Its all right." He turned back around, glaring at Clovis, "I can't stay long, so why don't we make it a short one."

A small smile spread across Clovis' face, "Perfect."

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**My first original character, I wonder what's going to happen lol. Thanks for reading, check profile for updates, see ya guys later! **


	9. Racing to the Top

**Here is chapter 9! Please enjoy :D**

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Racing to the Top

Mikasa looked on as Eren glared at Clovis in front of her. She was concerned that this so called race would not end well, but seeing Eren's determination, she realized it was futile to persuade the boy to change his mind. To add more problems, she noticed the pair of guards that had been following them when they wandered off. The last thing she wanted was to cause more complications for Eren's father.

Clovis drifted his eyes towards Mikasa, and from what she was looking at it, he too noticed the guards, "Follow me, I know where we can race." He walked ahead of everyone, but not before stopping one of the Viridis students to discuss something. Eren and Mikasa couldn't hear what he was saying, but the student had a look of worry across his face. Clovis patted him on the back, and continued to walk, leading all of them to their destination. Eren didn't give it a second thought; he'd much rather focus on the challenge to come. Mikasa, on the other hand, was vigilant as she walked closely next to him. The guards trailed them cautiously, waiting for the right moment to intervene. When the group turned the corner, Clovis stopped everyone and signaled to the student he talked to earlier. "Go on, and if you get caught, don't tell them anything," he said with a stern voice.

The student took a deep breath and took off his shirt. He began running in the opposite direction, yelling, "I'm going to break some windows! I can't wait to see how strong I've gotten! I don't care if I bleed, you only live once right?"

The guards stopped briefly and the sight before them, and decided to chase the student down, "Get back here!"

Clovis was laughing hysterically as he wiped a tear from his eye, "That's priceless. Don't you think so, Eren?" Eren, like Mikasa, did not find it amusing, and Clovis noticed this as he regained his composure, "Well, maybe next time. You'll wake up soon enough." Clovis resumed to lead the group to their destination; but his last statement perplexed Mikasa to no end, _Wake up from what? _

After a few minutes of wondering the campus, they ended up in front of a five-story building. "This should be fine," said Clovis.

"So, we're not going to race on the track field?" said Eren.

"Nope, unfortunately there is PE class going on right now. Don't worry though, this is more fun." Clovis turned to face Eren as extended his arms wide, "We will race to the top of this building."

"Sounds fun," said Mikasa.

"I know right?" Clovis brought his hands down as explained, "Each hallway has two sets of stairs on both ends. We'll run through each hall until we reach the top, where our friends here will be waiting. Easy?"

Eren wasn't surprised at Clovis' idea and was ready for anything, but the idea of leaving Mikasa alone with the other Viridis students at the top of the building was unsettling.

"You guys will take the elevator," said Clovis.

Eren looked back at Mikasa, "You should go back and wait for my father, you don't need to be here."

The other students overheard Eren, "Don't worry, we'll be watching her." "Yeah, she won't feel lonely with us."

Eren began to snarl, but immediately relaxed when Mikasa said, "It's okay. As if there going to do anything, they're just cowards. My cat is scarier than them."

Clovis, meanwhile, faced the agitators, "Man you guys sound pathetic. Just get on the elevator already," he then turned toward Mikasa, "you too."

With one last glance, Mikasa nodded towards Eren and proceeded to follow the others toward the elevator. Now sensing that she would be fine, he focused on the matter at hand. "Clovis, I forgot to mention this, but are there other people in this building?"

"It's being renovated, it's supposed to be empty. But there might be some workers around. Don't let it stop you though, just focus on getting to the top."

"Yeah, I'm ready."

Clovis bent down, picking up a rock he said, "I'll throw this in the air and when it hits the ground, we start." He threw the rock high into the air; the glare from the sun made Eren lose track of where the rock was, and decided to stare at the ground for it to land. Then he saw it, it made contact with the dust underneath it, splashing particles of sand in the air. And they were off; Clovis was already ahead of him as they entered the school building and made their way through the first hallway. The hallway was a wide; classroom on the left, windows on the right. Every step was loud as they reached the firs set of stairs and climbed up to the second hallway. Eren took the lead as Clovis said, "You're starting to pick up the pace I see, but don't get too cocky." Reaching the next set of stairs, they entered the third hallway, but immediately stopped when they saw workers, various tools, and obstacles in front of them. "Told you this would be fun."

Meanwhile, on the roof, Mikasa had her arms crossed as she waited patiently for Eren to get here. The other boys were not making it easy for her, "Clovis is going to win; that Eren kid should've just given up." "Yeah, there is no way Clovis will lose to that brat."

"That brat has more strength in his finger than any of you have in your entire body," said Mikasa. "And he is not going to give up so easily."

The boys walked up to her, as if preparing to strike, "Maybe I should help you get a brain while we're waiting."

She faced the boys darkly, causing them to take a few steps back. "You can try, but there's a good chance you'll lose yours in the process." After that, none of them confronted her again.

Eren and Clovis traversed through the hallway passing by the workers. "Hey! What are you kids doing," yelled one of the men, "Stop them!"

Looking back at the workers, Eren didn't notice the toolbox in his way and tripped, hitting is shoulder on the ground. Clovis, who was evading the grasp of the other workers, called out to him, "You're not done yet, are you? I know something like this can't stop you." Eren stood up, ignoring the pain in his shoulder, and entered a nearby classroom. Two men followed and blocked his exit. He looked around for anything that will help him. Suddenly, the two men charged at him; he jumped onto one of the desks and then another, toying with the workers and hoping around as if the ground was lava. As he evaded capture, he saw a glassless window leading back into the hallway. He grabbed a couple of books he found and tossed them towards the workers; they fumbled and fell onto the scattered chairs and desks surrounding them. With the distraction, he jumped through the opening and landed on his feet. Looking around, he saw Clovis standing on an open windowsill. The workers that were chasing Clovis, momentarily lost consciousness, but were getting back up.

"Clovis, what are you doing," said Eren, his tone was one of worry.

"The race is still going on, I'm not going to let these guys stop that. By the way, the door to the stairs is locked, which means there is only one way to go," Clovis turned around preparing to jump out of the window.

"Enough Clovis! That's enough, this is starting to become meaningless."

"Meaningless…" mumbled Clovis, "when are you going to wake up man?" Not looking back, Clovis jumped out the window, but only far enough to grab onto something on the outside of the building.

"Clovis!"

"If you don't hurry, you're going to lose," Clovis started climbing up inch by inch. Eren, who saw the workers getting back on their feet, reluctantly followed Clovis; he carefully grabbed something to climb on to. The workers were left behind; Eren could hear them saying something about calling the authorities and at this point, he might as well just finish the race. Though perhaps more importantly, he should focus on not to letting go first. "That's the way, Eren!"

"Did you guys hear something?" said Mikasa towards the group of boys.

All of them shook their heads, not sure what she was talking about. She walked towards the edge of the rooftop and was stunned to see the two racers climbing on the side of the building. "Eren what are you doing! Get down from there!" The other students also looked over the edge and were completely shocked as well.

Eren looked up, seeing Mikasa, "I can handle this, don't worry!"

"You're insane! I'm coming to get you!"

"No, Mikasa! Just trust me, I'll be okay." Mikasa eyes were fixated on his every motion; if he fell, she felt like she could jump to get him as crazy as that may sound.

Clovis momentarily stopped climbing, "I feel like she'll jump if you fell down." He proceeded to open a nearby window leading to the fourth floor, "Let's get off here." He climbed into the room and waited for Eren, "Hurry up."

Eren grabbed on to the side of the window and as he was beginning to climb up, he lost his grip.

"Eren!" yelled Mikasa.

Eren was starting to feel the weight of gravity over his body, as if arms from the Earth stretched out and grasped him. The full weight of it, however, was not reached as a different arm stretched out to grab him.

"Whoa, that was close," said Clovis. He pulled him into the building and as Eren took a moment to calm his breathing, he heard Clovis chuckling. "That was great, you should have seen your face…the race is almost done, so lets finish this."

Eren's mind was going crazy from everything that happened so far, but regardless, he stood strong and prepared to run once more. "On three…one…two…three!" Running through the fourth hallway easily, they glided up the stairs toward the fifth hallway. No more obstacles were in their way and as Eren turned to see Clovis, he saw a wide smile spread across his face.

"Oh here they come," said one the guys. In the final set of stairs, Eren and Clovis were on line with each other; and as the opening to the rooftop was shown, Eren wanted to win now more than the he did at the beginning. He didn't want to win for pride or to brag, he wanted to win for Clovis.

"Clovis won!"

The two racers fell to the ground, gasping for air. Mikasa quickly ran towards Eren's side, making sure he was all right, "Why did you do that? You could've have gotten yourself killed."

He tried to calm his breathing as he replied, "Yeah, that would've been bad…OW!"

She punched him the stomach, not finding his tone to be the right one, "It would've been much worse than 'bad.'"

Clovies approached the two of them; Mikasa narrowed her eyes, waiting for him to do something. He reached out and offered his hand to Eren as he said, "Fun, wasn't it?"

Eren didn't take his hand as he slowly got up; Mikasa helped him on his feet. "We need to go back now, that's the last time I'm doing that."

"I agree," said Clovis, "this wasn't really fair, after all I knew this building pretty well." He pondered for a moment and then spoke up once more, "Racing is for kids, next time let's just fight. That's more suited for the both of us."

Mikasa was astonished at this person's behavior; everything that happened didn't faze him one bit. It was hard to believe that a person like this was acquainted with Eren. When she looked at Eren to see a reaction to Clovis' suggestion, she was shocked to see that he had an unmoving reaction, "Don't get yourself killed before then."

Clovis once again showed his bright smile when, suddenly, loud sets of footsteps were heard from the stairwell. "There they are, you two have caused a lot of trouble," said one of the guards. They grabbed Mikasa and Eren as they pulled them down the stairwell.

Eren, struggling against the guard's grip, said, "Us? What about them?"

Clovis shouted from where he was standing, "Students of Viridis don't get in trouble."

After a lecture and a disappointed father, Eren and Mikasa sat quietly as Grisha drove them home. "What did I say? I told you to wait, but instead you go off on your own adventure. I'm sorry, Mikasa, I don't blame you. Eren probably dragged you into it."

Mikasa was about to respond, but felt Eren's hand on her shoulder, telling her not to say anything. On the other hand, he said, "Are you going to tell mom?"

Grisha sighed, "No, your mother wouldn't be able to sleep if she learned that you were climbing on the side of the building."

"Right cause then she would get mad at you for not watching us," said Eren.

"Eren…" growled Grisha.

"Sorry," Eren decided to change the subject, "so what did you talk about with Nile?"

Grisha was silent; it caused Eren and Mikasa to look at each other with curiosity in their eyes. "Nothing you need to concern yourself with. More importantly, Mikasa."

Her ears perked up, "Yes sir?"

"I believe you can get into Viridis. Your grades are outstanding, and if the board can ignore your involvement with that recent situation, you'll get accepted."

"Dad…" Eren was a little hesitant on whether he should tell him the truth.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Jaeger, but I've decided to go to Caeruleum. And just to confirm your thinking, Eren is going as well." Mikasa's bold statement almost took Grisha's eyes off the road, while Eren's mouth was wide open; he was not expecting her to say it now.

"Are you sure, Mikasa? I chance like this doesn't happen often," said Grisha looking through the rear-view mirror.

"I'm sure, I want to make memories in a place where I won't be caged and," Mikasa looked at Eren with a small smile, "I want to make more friends and not business partners."

"Well, okay. If that's what you want. I'm sure your parents will be happy regardless. And Eren, try not to cause any trouble for her."

Eren returned a soft smile towards Mikasa, "I will."

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**Hope you liked it, next chapter will be up soon!**


	10. Clovis Glas

**Another chapter for you guys :)**

Clovis Glas

It was a hectic day to say the least, and with the sun long gone, Eren was glad that day was almost over. Seeing Clovis again was not something he prepared for and afterwards, he wondered how Mikasa was feeling about all of it. He felt guilty, because he got her involved in something she didn't need to be a part of. As he was thinking of a way to apologize to her, George scurried up the stairs and jumped onto Eren, causing him to lose his balance. "George, relax…what are you—" Just then, he noticed his phone in the jaws of his blonde terrier; it was ringing, and he saw the caller id on the front of the screen. He quickly grabbed it and answered, "Hey Mikasa. Is everything all right?"

"Yes…um, am I bothering you?"

"No, I was actually going to call you." George jumped onto Eren's bed, finding a place to take a nap.

"You were? What did you want to tell me?"

"Hey, you called me first remember?"

"Oh, that's right. I told my parents that I decided to go to Caeruleum." Eren waited silently to hear what her parents had to say. "They were happy, just like your father said."

Eren smiled, "I see, that's good then."

"Yes, I just wanted to let you know." Mikasa had been walking around her room so far, and now she decided to take a seat as she asked, "So, what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Mikasa…" Eren wasn't really ready, but it would be much better to say it now then later on, "Sorry, about earlier today. I got you in the middle of all of that craziness."

Mikasa stayed quiet briefly and then replied, "You were acting pretty immature, and you definitely were crazy to try to climb the side of a building." She didn't hold back, but it was only because he needed to hear it. "First, that incident with the car and now this, you like getting yourself in situations were you might get killed, huh?" He waited for her to finish. "Still…I'm glad that you're okay," her words fainted at the end, but he was able to hear it. His heart started beating, because her words were true and it made him know that she actually cared about him.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Eren then remembered, "wait a minute, that car incident was your fault. You were daydreaming and I had to save you."

Mikasa briefly held her tongue but then responded, not allowing Eren to relish the moment, "Don't change the subject, you need to watch yourself more."

"I will when you stop daydreaming."

It was clear to the both of them that they have been involved in some tense situations recently, but it was not the first time for either of them.

"Hey, Eren," said Mikasa.

"Yeah?"

"How do you know Clovis?" It still bothered her that someone like him knew Eren closely. She figured that learning more about him would help, because they might meet again in the future.

Eren looked out of his bedroom window not saying anything, Mikasa sat quietly waiting for him to speak him. He then walked towards the window and opened it, allowing the fresh air to drift in. "You know, I was wondering…is that your bedroom window that I'm looking at?"

Mikasa stood up and moved toward her window, which was covered by her white curtains. It didn't really occur to her that their bedrooms might be right across from each other. Eren, on the other hand, was always curious but never felt the courage to ask, until tonight. As Eren held his phone tight, he saw fingertips guiding the curtains across the window, revealing the girl next door.

"I guess it was," said Eren.

"Yeah," Mikasa opened her window and was about to close her phone figuring that they would talk without it, but Eren stopped her.

"Wait, stay on…this way we won't have to yell at each other."

"It's not that far, besides you made me open my window."

"Sorry, I just want you to see my face and know that I'm not lying when I tell you about Clovis."

Mikasa held her set expression, "Okay, tell me."

Eren took a deep breath as he told the tale of his once close friend.

"Our fathers knew each other, so we were around each other at a young age. Even though he was a year older than me, he never tried to boss me around. That has to do with the fact that we challenged each other almost every day. They were little things at first, like Jacks, card games, racing; but then it become more complex."

"You mean more dangerous?" said Mikasa.

"To others, it seemed like that. The way we challenged each other to certain things scared everyone else off. But you know…I wasn't scared of any of it, I liked it and he liked it too. We just ignored everybody else and became best friends."

Mikasa continued to stare at Eren through the open window, as she noticed that he had brought his eyes down. "Though one day, we got into a real argument with some older kids that eventually led to us fighting them. It was only the two of us, so naturally we didn't stand a chance. I was on the ground as I watched them kick Clovis over and over again. It seemed like they just wanted to beat him up and I was just in the middle of it. I assumed this because I faintly remembered hearing them say something about his father being the one at fault. Regardless, seeing them hurt him to the point where he was beginning to lose consciousness made me angry. And then…"He stopped talking for a moment; she focused solely on his next words. "I took a pipe that was next to me and smashed it on one of their heads. Then I took a rock and threw it at another one's chest. I just kept hitting all of them; a few of them ran, but there were still some on the ground. I didn't stop."

Ever since she met him, Mikasa has seen Eren as a good person with no ill intentions, but the things that were coming out of his mouth brought about a familiar feeling that she had once agreed to let go of. It was a feeling of animosity, a strong sense of inner dislike that appeared onto one's reality. "There were stains of blood on me as I sat there grasping the pipe on my hand. When I looked over to Clovis, he was laying there, staring at me with unblinking eyes. I expected him to run away out of fear, but instead, I saw him smile in a way I never saw before. At the time, I didn't realize that that was the moment he changed. Remembering his expression now, sends a slight chill down my spine." Eren looked back to see if Mikasa was still by there, "Mikasa, I can stop here if you want. I understand if you don't want to listen anymore."

This time, Mikasa was the one who brought her eyes down, "No, please…keep going."

Eren hanged on one of his curtain as he continued, "I can only assume that Clovis admired the way I acted that day, because since then, he started to create more chaos by himself. Again and again, he would tell me what he did, and he kept asking me to join him. At times I would go, but when I didn't, he would take another kid with him. Eventually, one of the kids that went with him ended up going to the hospital. So, I finally asked him to stop."

"Did he listen to you?" said Mikasa.

Eren shook his head, "No, instead he begged me to come with him. I figured that it was better if I want, than some other kid. He led to me to a store; it was long past closing time and there was no one around. Then he said 'wouldn't it be fun to light all the fireworks inside?' I should've said no, but I hesitated. A part of me wanted to cause chaos like him. Clovis broke the window with a rock and the two of us went inside to quickly ignite the fireworks."

"Eren…" Mikasa looked on with a sorrowful face wishing that Eren hadn't done it.

"I didn't stop him. When we ignited them, the collective sounds of whistling and explosions vibrated all around us, leading to a blaze throughout the store. He was laughing like a child playing with a new toy, while I stayed silent. I realized that there was something wrong with me. I tried to get Clovis to leave, but he wanted to stay. He wanted to wait for people to arrive so that he can see their reactions." Eren began recollecting his conversation with Clovis.

"_Let's get out of here Clovis!" _

"_I want to see their faces. Come on, stay and watch with me. It just like always, we do our thing and everyone else ignores us!"_

"_No, it's not the same! This is all becoming meaningless!"_

_Clovis revealed a pained face, "Meaningless…Eren, why would you say that?"_

"_Clovis…let's go home."_

"…_Maybe it's cause you're younger than me, so I'll wait till you grow up and then we can show people who we really are."_

"So, he waited outside the burning store, while I ran home. I'm sure he ended up getting in trouble, because I learned that he moved away afterwards. I thought I was going to get in trouble too, but I suppose he never revealed it to anyone. That's how I know Clovis."

Mikasa tried very hard to gather everything she heard from Eren, but rather than analyzing every detail now, she decided to accept Eren and his past. "Thank you, for telling me. I'm sure it wasn't easy for you to say all this to me, so I'm sorry if you felt unsettled in any way."

"My parents don't even know about this, you're the only person I've told this story too. And I'm glad I did, so don't worry," a faint smile appeared on Eren's face.

Mikasa lifted one of her hands to grasp the curtain next to her, "I think that it's best not to be around someone like that anymore. You might end up doing those things again, unless you still do them."

"I don't do those things anymore, and you're right, I shouldn't be around Clovis. But I feel like I'm the only one that can speak to him; he might need my help in the future. So I hope you won't get mad if I do see him again."

"I won't be happy, but I understand."

"By the way, don't tell anyone about this. Promise?"

Mikasa clutched her phone and bit her lip slightly. This wasn't the first time she received the weight of a promise, but this time she was determined to keep it. "I promise."

Weeks pass by as the end of the school year arrived. The students of Shiganshina Middle School are saying their goodbyes as each one of them decide on the high school of their choice.

"Eh! The two of you are going to Caeruleum, Jean, Connie?" said Eren. The three boys are standing outside the school building with all the other graduates.

"Of course, where else would I go?" said Connie with arms crossed.

"Rubeus would've been better, don't you think?"

"My parents would've been happy if I went there, but I keep hearing you say how amazing Caeruleum is, so I wanted to go. Isn't that right, Jean?

"Yeah, you sounded like a broken record. I, on the other hand, was applying to Viridis."

"And how did that turn out?"

"Flat out rejected. And as for Rubeus, I don't need job security when I already have a job at my uncle's store. So, Caeruleum was the obvious choice left."

"Actually, you chose Caeruleum because Mikasa was going there as well."

"Shutup Connie!" As Jean and Connie tussled with each other, Eren was aware of the other student's conversation. A great number of them had decided to enter Rubeus; so far, only four people were actually going to Caeruleum from this middle school. Which means, there would be new people he would have to confront, but as he looked over at Mikasa who was talking with some girls, he wasn't nervous about any of it.

On the walk home, Eren and Mikasa share a moment together as they prepare to take on the next stage of their lives.

"So, are you ready for Caeruleum?" said Eren.

"Yes."

"Good, and don't get mad if you decide that you don't like it. After all, I didn't force you to follow me."

"Eren, I'm not following you. Besides, you should be glad I'm going too, who else is going to look after you if you do dumb stuff, like climbing on the side of a building."

A small bead of sweat ran down his face, "I'm not going to, jeez, are you going to start babying me around?"

"Only if I have to," a small smile spread across her face. "Still, I'm looking forward to our new school."

Eren looked up at the sky as he responded, "Me too."

**THE END…**

**Just kidding lol….uh April fools :D. Most stories end like that though :( Hope you guys like that, I enjoyed writing it. I'll cya guys later! Remember to check that profile!**


	11. First Day

**Hey look, another chapter. This is a long one, it is the first day of high school.**

**0~0 New people are introduced. More events are added to the story. Should be fun! Lol Hope you like it and as always, enjoy.**

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First Day

It is the start of the fall semester as students from Viridis, Rubeus, and Caeruleum begin their new school year. For freshman, it is a very nervous time as they assimilate into their new environments. In that sense, a day like this shouldn't be overlooked.

"Eren, I'm leaving already," said Carla standing behind the boy's door, "Make you sure you have enough time to get ready for school." As she left the house, Eren covered his face, electing to sleep just a bit longer, "Five more minutes…"

_The person you are reaching is unavailable at this time._

"Maybe I should've knocked on his door," said Mikasa as she was walking toward Caeruleum, "Eren, what are you doing…idiot." The day before, the two had decided to walk to school together for the first time. They had always walked back from school, but they had never left in the morning seeing as how they left at different times. Mostly because Eren would favor to sleep in more and Mikasa was told, by her father, that the early bird gets the worm. And being that this was Eren's idea, it didn't sit well with her that he just ignored it. Regardless, there was no way she would miss her first day at Caeruleum. She was looking forward to attending the school that he had talked so greatly about. So for now, she agreed to deal with him later.

Then, appearing out of the distant, was Caeruleum High School. Parked cars were in the outside of the campus, and students walked through a single gate where a sign that read "All Freshman to the Auditorium" was hanged. Mikasa took once last glance back towards home, hoping to see Eren running towards her; but unfortunately, there was no sign of him. She entered the school grounds, making her way to the auditorium; it was a building where the inside looked a lot bigger than the outside. The other freshman gathered inside, some were old friends and others were trying to make new friends. A couple of which approached her, "Hey Mikasa!" It was Jean who was followed by Connie.

"Looks like we're the only ones from our school here," said Connie, "Hm, where is Eren? I thought he would be the first one here."

"Ah who cares, that idiot is probably sleeping. Hey Mikasa, um, how was your summer?" said Jean.

"Well…it was nice, really refreshing." Mikasa avoid mentioning the incident with George.

"That's good to hear, but maybe next time, if you don't have anything planned I mean…I can show you Trost sometime, I went there this past summer," Jean had a great red blush that Connie picked up on instantly. Mikasa on the other hand was oblivious to it.

Before she could reply, a voice resonated through the auditorium. "New students, please make your way to the front of the stage. The principal will say a few words to you all." A lady with orangey hair stood in front of a microphone, and as the students organized themselves, she stepped away where a tall man with fine blond hair took her place. Mikasa looked around to see if Eren was here. Still nothing. "Eren…"

"Eren," a seductive voice arose in Eren's dream. "Eren, please stay with me. I want you so…"

"Come on Mikasa," muttered Eren, "I have to go to school…school?...School!" He sat up from his bed and looked at his clock. "Are you serious! ARGH!" He rushed towards the bathroom and grabbed anything he could wear. There was no time for a shower, so he was very happy to have the body spray that his dad gave him. _Use this when you're in a hurry. _Those were the words he said, and Eren had a feeling that his father knew this was going to happen. Once he clothed himself, he gathered his backpack, tied his shoes, and ran out the door. After seeing the performance in front of him, George decided to go back to sleep.

"Even after I told her…and she even said yes!" Eren ran hard while recollecting last night; he stayed up late thinking of seeing her first thing in the morning, "Dang it!"

Meanwhile at school, the freshman waited patiently to hear the principal's words. Mikasa, Jean, and Connie had no idea what he was like; hopefully, they thought, he won't be so bad.

The principal cleared his throat as he said, "I appreciate that you all have chosen this school to be your place of learning for the next four years. But before I continue, I must ask each of you this." He took a deep breath and stared at them with cold eyes, "Are you prepared to deal with the possibility of failing?" All the students looked at each other, unsure of what he meant by that. "Let me rephrase, if the stress from school, and the shame of failing your parents surround you, will you give up?" Now the students were getting scared, none of them expected their principal to beginning weeding them out on the first day. It was like a test with their lives on the line, and no one studied for it. Except for Mikasa, she didn't know why he was saying all of this, but there was no way she would budge from something like this. She knew that Eren wouldn't back down either.

"Man, what's this guy saying? Hey Jean what do you think," said Connie, a small bead of sweat rolled down his face.

Jean was a little shaky, but he managed to hold his composure, "Hell if I know."

The students continued to murmur amongst themselves, until the principal spoke up once again, "Whether you are or not right now, when you graduate from this school, you will be more ready to deal with the real world than students who graduate in other schools. Even those from Viridis." His last comment was surprising to the students; after all, it was no mystery that those in Viridis are considered elite. At that moment, the principal smiled, "You have no reason to lose to anyone, we will guide you. So like I said, I appreciate, no…I am very happy to see all of you here." Their nervous feeling vanished as they smiled back at the principal in relief. Connie wiped the sweat off of him, Jean let out a big sigh, and Mikasa kept her stoic demeanor.

The principal placed his right fist over his heart and left arm behind his back, "This is the traditional salute of Caeruleum High School, follow my words." Each of them performed the salute and mirrored the principal's posture. Mikasa did the same; something about this made her feel courageous.

"_I am a student of Caeruleum, I face fear with my heart, I surpass my body's limitations. Even if everything crashes around me, I stand tall. The world will see that I am a student of Caeruleum."_

The words that came out of each of their mouths was heavy, but it was something that each of them swore to themselves that they would uphold.

"My name is Erwin Smith, Welcome to Caeruleum."

Erwin walked toward the side of the stage, as the lady with the orange hair passed by him, "Jeez, you always have to scare them first, huh?"

"Petra, it is a right of passage. Besides, I eased up a bit this year."

As Erwin stood on the side, Petra got the attention of the freshman, "Okay, your homeroom class number is listed outside. This will be your first period class everyday, the rest of your classes should be listed on your schedule. Now, go see where you will be every morning for the next four years."

The students filed out of the building, and as Jean followed, he noticed a familiar person to his side, "Eh, isn't that…Christa?"

"Jean hurry up man, let's go see which homeroom number we have. Mikasa is already checking you know," said Connie.

"Yeah, I'm coming."

Mikasa looked up at the list of names in front of her. They were in alphabetical order, so she was able to find her name quickly. _Mikasa Ackerman…Class 1-A. _After she confirmed this, she glanced around her to see if Eren was here. It was no surprise that he wasn't. Even so, she decided to scan the names to see where Eren would be. Truthfully, she thought it would be nice to be in the same class as him, just like in middle school. After finding the "J" section, she saw it. _Eren Jaeger…Class 1-A. _A small smile appeared on Mikasa's face.

Jean and Connie approached the board next to Mikasa to find their names. Jean found his first, "Class 1-A yes!"

"Hey me too!" said Connie smiling. "Looks like the three of us are in the same class again. What's wrong Jean?"

"Eren is in our class too."

"Great! That makes four of us."

Jean sighed, but was still happy to know that he was in the same class as Mikasa.

"We should get going," said Mikasa, "Everyone else is leaving." As the three of them followed the crowd into the main school building, a shadowy figure stood just outside of the school.

"Oh, looks like everyone isn't inside yet, lucky me," said Eren. As he climbed the nearby wall, which wasn't that tall, Erwin, who was exiting the auditorium, noticed him sneaking in with the rest of the freshman. "Looks like we have an interesting one."

"Erwin," said Petra, "Come on, you have to go in as well."

Erwin ignored what he saw for the moment, "Of course Petra."

As the freshman entered the building, Eren noticed Mikasa, Jean and Connie in front of him. He grabbed Mikasa by the shoulder, startling her in the process, "Eren!"

"Eren, you actually made it, how did you get in?" said Connie.

"Some wall climbing, where is everyone going?"

"We're going to our homeroom class, you're supposed to look at the board outside to see which class you're in," said Jean.

"Seriously! Oh man, they're going to catch me for sure."

"Your homeroom class is 1-A," said Mikasa.

"Nice try, Jean," said Connie. Jean looked away with a disgruntled face.

"Thanks Mikasa, you actually looked up my name," said Eren smiling.

"Well I was curious…oh, we're here."

As the four students entered their homeroom class, they noticed the seating arrangements on the board. "Oh, I guess I'm over here," said Connie as he sat in the front, "I can't believe I'm sitting here, this sucks."

"Yeah, well, that's what you get for sleeping in class," said Jean who sat a few rows back from Connie. As Jean sat down, a student next to him offered his hand.

"Nice to meet you, my name is Marco Bott. Looks like we'll be next to each other this year."

Jean hesitated for a moment, but then responded, "Right, looks like it. I'm Jean Kirchstein."

Eren saw that he was on the other side of the room, far away from Jean, Connie, and Mikasa. He was a little disheartened at that as he said, "I guess I'm over there, later Mikasa." Mikasa nodded as she sat on the other end from Eren, at the back of the room.

As Eren took his seat he was greeted by the soft voice of the blonde girl sitting next to him. "Hey Eren, long time no see."

Eren turned to face her, his eyes grew wide-eyed, "C-Christa?" Eren didn't even notice her name on the board. Christa, out of all the people sitting next to him, it was her. He struggled to say something else, "U-um, you—I."

She chuckled a little, "The way you talk is still the same, but you seem different. I'm glad."

Before Eren could speak up once again, Erwin entered the room and approached the front, "Silence…students of Class 1-A, I will be your new teacher. I look forward to it."

The students of Class 1-A were discouraged to hear that their principal was also their teacher. "No way." "Are you kidding me?" said some of them.

Then a hearty laugh escaped Erwin's mouth and then said, "Joking…I'll just be substituting for the day. Your homeroom teacher will be here tomorrow."

A sigh of relief escaped the majority of the students. "This guy is going to give me a heart attack, " said Connie wiping sweat from his head again.

"So, lets have each of you introduce yourselves. Tell us your name, what you like, and your future plans. Lets start with you in the front," said Erwin.

Connie stood up with haste, "Yes sir! Um, My name is Connie Springer. I like video games, and I want to have a great, steady job. One that my parents will be proud of."

"Good, good, you didn't need to stand up, but I suppose that's better. Next!" Each student took their turn as they showed what kind of person they were like.

"My name is Marco Bott. I like working with tools and in the future I want to be working close to the Prime Minister. It would be a huge honor."

"My name is Jean Kirchstein. I like earning money for my hard work. Down the line, I want to be in charge of a company, and be secure for the rest of my life."

"My name is Sasha Blaus. I-I like um…clothes…and accessorizing," her tone was a little sarcastic, "In the future, I want to have…a good job." She sat back down with her eyes down.

"My name is Mikasa Ackerman. I like to run in the mornings and in the future," she paused for a moment, "I don't know, I'm sorry."

"My name is Eren Jaeger." Erwin noticed that this was boy in the morning. "I like to work with my dad whenever I get the chance. In the future, I'm not sure what my position will be, but I know that I'll be traveling all over the world." Of all the times Mikasa had talked with Eren, she never heard him talk about his future. It wasn't that much of a surprise though seeing the kind of person he was. _I suppose he likes to be free, just like his mother. _Mikasa recollected her talk with Grisha.

As Eren sat down, Christa stood up, grabbing the attention of the entire class. "Hello everyone, my name is Christa Lentz, it's nice to meet you all."

"I knew it," said Jean.

"Hey Jean its Christa," whispered Connie. Jean only responded with a nod.

The rest of the boys became enamored and were thrilled to have such a girl in their class. The girls admired her glow and listened intently to what she said, "I like to groom horses at my uncle's place and for the future…" Christa glanced toward Eren. He turned away from her as a slight blush arose from his cheek. Mikasa saw Eren's odd reaction, but didn't make anything of it. "I suppose I'd want have a nice family."

As soon as she said that, cupid's love arrow pierced the heart of most of the boys.

"Okay," said Erwin, "I'm glad to see you all have likes and/or future goals. The next class will start soon, so I'll just tell you some quick points. Oh and one more thing, Eren Jaeger…"

Eren's ears perked up as he responded, "Yes sir?"

"See me after school."

"Great," he muttered to himself.

The day was only half over as lunchtime began, so the students headed outside to the lunch tables. Eren was looking forward to this, because he skipped breakfast to get here faster. However, he quickly realized he had no money with him; so, he looked to his friends for help.

"No," said Jean.

"Come on man. I missed breakfast running over here."

"That's your fault. Like my father says, you have to deal with the consequences or you won't get paid. He stressed the 'paid' part very much."

"Connie, what about you?"

"I would give you some, but I don't have any. I just brought a lunch bag. No you can't have any of my food."

After Mikasa collected her lunch box, she was about go over where Eren was, until Sasha approached her. "Hey, um Mikasa, do you want to have lunch together?"

Mikasa was not sure why this girl wanted to eat with her, but this was an opportunity for Mikasa to make a new friend. Of course, that will depend on Sasha, she thought to herself. "I don't mind."

"Cool, I like your lunch box, what did you bring?"

"It's actually a bento, and as for what I brought…" Mikasa opened it up to reveal the wonder of home cooked food. Sasha was stunned.

"A-Amazing! That looks so delicious! Can I—" Sasha immediately changed her demeanor, "I mean, that looks good."

Mikasa was puzzled by this girl's attitude; she also noticed that her lunch bag was not filled with much, "That's all you brought?"

"Uh, yeah, it's enough for me." Mikasa decided to leave it at that as the two of them ate their lunch.

Meanwhile, Eren was beginning to lose all hope.

That was until a savior named Marco Bott arrived, "Hey, I couldn't help but overhear. Eren, I can give you some money." He pulled out a few dollars, Eren grabbed his hand in appreciation.

"You're a lifesaver, I'll pay you back tomorrow."

"Ah, don't worry about it," said Marco shyly.

"You should have left him to suffer," said Jean.

"We all need some help every now and then, I'm sure you asked for help once," said Marco.

"Nope, I learned to deal with things on my own," said Jean.

As Eren was heading back inside, he noticed the conversation from some students surrounding Christa. "You have amazing hair." "You look like an angel." "Hey, we should go to karaoke one of these days."

Eren didn't take a second glance; he was focused on finding the vending machine. Christa didn't respond to any of the comments at first, but when she saw Eren leave she spoke up, "Um, excuse me, I need to go get some water."

"Oh, we'll come with you," said one of the girls.

"No, it's okay. I'll be right back." With that Christa headed inside, hoping to catch up to Eren.

"Let's see, this is the most I can get," said Eren inserting money into the vending machine. It wasn't much, but it was enough to hold him off till he got home. As Eren opened his snack, Christa appeared in front of him.

"Hey Eren, can we talk for a moment."

Eren held of eating his food for the moment, he wasn't expecting to talk to her so suddenly, "I suppose, but you'll have to forgive me, I haven't eaten yet."

"Eh, you didn't eat breakfast?"

"Yeah, I was running a bit late."

"I think I have some food, wait here."

Eren grabbed her by the shoulder, "Christa I'm fine, now what did you want to talk about?"

As he released her, she grasped her hands together, "Well, um, How do you feel… about seeing me again."

Eren began nibbling on his snack as he gave a soft response, "I'm not sure, I guess I'm glad to know that you're okay."

"I see...Eren, if your okay with it, I would really like to be friends again." She looked at him straight in his eyes, watching every tiny reaction he was making." The two had a heartfelt past, Eren know this clearly, but he wonders if being close to each other again will be the right choice. After all, it was his fault.

"I don't think that's a good idea…right now, at least." Eren threw away his half-empty bag of food, he didn't feel like eating anymore.

"Is it really that bad of an idea? Am I really that dangerous?"

Eren quickly turned around, "No! No, you're not." He didn't want to leave Christa with an empty feeling, so he playfully laughed as he said, "Sorry, I'm just an idiot." Deciding to go back to class, he left Christa with one last remark, "It's only the first day, and it seems like you're doing okay. So, for now let's just leave it like this."

As Eren walked away from her, Christa said, almost raising her voice, "I can wait, Eren." It might have been the fact that he had an empty stomach or because he stayed up late the night before, but he was beginning to feel jaded. When Eren returned to his friends, Mikasa saw that he wasn't looking too well

"Yo, Eren, I thought you were gonna get something to eat," said Connie.

"Yeah, I already finished it."

"I'm sorry Eren, I wish I had more money. You probably could've only got a snack, huh?" said a concerned Marco.

Eren immediately reassured him, "It was enough, thanks…Marco Bott, was it?"

Marco nodded, "Nice to meet you, Eren Jaeger."

"Hey don't taint this guy, he's a lot more cooler than you Jaeger," said Jean, "Anyways, where did you say you were from?"

Seeing as everyone ignored the fact that he was insulted, Eren decided not to say anything to allow Marco to speak, "I'm from Ostia."

Just then, the three boys stopped what they were doing. Jean had his mouth slightly open, and Eren had to double take. Only Connie was able to speak up , albeit out of disbelief, "You mean the military city?"

"Uh, yeah, is that bad?" said looking Marco a little concerned.

Out of his daze, Eren chimed in, "Wow, I have always saw pictures and videos of it. Definitely one of the places I want to visit."

"You should, it's not as crazy as people think it is."

"Still, it's a city funded by the entire region to house the military. I heard that Viridis follows their example on how to keep their school tight and well mannered," said Jean. "I always thought it was a bit unreal."

"It's really not that intense, trust me. I moved out here because of my parents work," looking to change the subject, Marco added, "So, are you all from here?"

"Yep," said Connie. "Well actually, me and Eren were born here. Jean was born in Trost, but moved here when we were in kindergarten."

Eren seemed to be doing all right now, thought Mikasa. She had finished her lunch as she excused herself from Sasha.

"Hey, where are you going?" said Sasha.

"Oh, to put my bento in my backpack," said Mikasa.

"Eh, you don't throw it away? Won't it stink?"

"Why would I do that, I just need to wash it. And as long as its sealed, it won't smell."

Sasha revealed a face like she had just discovered something magical, "T-That's wonderful! I mean…that's nice," Sasha's voice began to drown out, "I can even put fully cooked chicken…" Mikasa was unable to hear what she was talking about, so she left her to mumble by herself.

It didn't seem like Mikasa would be able to walk home with Eren after school, since he had to face the principal on the first day. If she had to place a bet, it would probably be because someone noticed Eren sneaking in this morning. "It's what he gets for being late," she said to herself. Still, a part of her didn't want him to be alone after he receives his punishment.

The bell rang, and it was time for Eren to speak to Erwin. Along with seeing Christa, being hungry, and trying to stay awake in class; Eren has also been pondered the reason for the sudden meeting. Maybe somebody saw me sneak in this morning, he thought to himself. That was his number one guess, and because of that, he couldn't help but stress out.

Arriving at the principal's office, he knocked on the door. "Come in," said Erwin taking a seat. "Oh, Eren, good sit down."

Eren promptly took a seat, "Am I in trouble?"

"Hm? Oh, you mean for being late this morning? No, its fine, it happens to all of us."

Eren was shocked to see that Erwin had already knew. His stress vanished knowing that he was in the clear. "So, what did you want to see me about?"

"I'm aware of what your father has accomplished and to have his son attend my school, makes me very fortunate."

"Ah, thanks."

"I look forward to seeing your accomplishments." Eren only nodded in response. "Oh I'm sorry, what I mean is, I want you to succeed in doing the things you want to do, not something your forced to do."

Eren smiled brightly, "Thank you, I'm just happy to be here."

Erwin then took this moment to ask, "If I may, why did you not choose Viridis? I'm sure with your father's connections and your grades, you could have easily been accepted there."

Eren took a moment to answer, "I wanted to go to this school more. I didn't want to be caged in, I want to be able to enjoy high school. The way a student should, at least."

Erwin smiled as Eren continued, "The people here come out strong, and speaking of people, I also joined because I heard Levi was going to come here. If I may ask, sir, is he around?"

"Is he your idol or something?"

Eren scratched the side of his face, blushing a bit, "Yeah, I mean he travels the world and shows those who can't through pictures and videos. And he also displays them on his website and all the magazines bid on his work. He's really amazing."

Erwin stood up, "He is one of our best, and he'll be back tomorrow. After all, who do you think will be your homeroom teacher?"

Eren stood up out of astonishment, "Seriously?"

Erwin nodded as he guided Eren out of the room, "Look forward for tomorrow, and try not to be late anymore. Levi wouldn't like that. That's all for today, return home safely, farewell Eren."

Eren took a moment to realize what just happened; the person he looked up to, was going to be his teacher. He was ecstatic as he made his way outside, where Mikasa was waiting for him, "You look happy, I thought you were going to get some kind of punishment?" She had never seen him so thrilled about something before.

"I thought so too, but he just wanted to thank me for attending here."

"That's odd, is that why you're so happy?"

"No, it's because of something else. By the way, you were waiting for me?"

"Yeah," Mikasa didn't want tell Eren how difficult it was waiting for him. Unlike in Middle School, here people stare at you and gossip amongst themselves. She even had to ignore a couple of upperclassmen's comments. Speaking of which, there were still some of them exiting the school.

"Thanks, Mikasa."

Mikasa started walking with Eren in tow, "I figured we should at least walk back today, since you were late in the morning."

"Sorry, I overslept."

"Figures."

Though the path home was a longer and different, it was not foreign. They had each other, and as long as that was constant, they were comfortable. Their first day of school was now over, but they would restart again tomorrow. "Hey, Mikasa, tomorrow is going to be awesome."

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**Oh my goodness, so much. Well at least for me lol. At this point, this is where everything I plotted comes into play. Not in this chapter, but I mean the high school years will show what I've wanted to do with this story since the very first chapter. Although, don't forget, there are things in the previous chapters that effect things later on. Of course, sometimes I improvise lol I'm not perfect. Anyways, hope you liked it. Also, I don't think I'll be able to write another chapter for a while. Responsibilities kicking back in, so I'm glad I made this one as long as I could. Check my profile for updates, message me if you want to talk about random stuff, leave a review if you feel like it. If not, its cool. If you like ErenxAnnie see "Love Hurts – Titan Ache" by KingKunta, I like it. See ya guys soon.**


	12. Levi Sensei

**Woo chapter 13! Hope you guys like it enjoy! :D**

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Levi Sensei

"Isn't this pretty neat Jean?" Marco had been trying to get Jean's attention during the morning walk to school. "I can't believe you live so close to me, we can go to and from school like everyday."

"Yeah, sounds great," said Jean with an uncaring face.

"Being sarcastic this early in the morning, huh."

"Well I didn't know you were a morning person," he said yawning.

"In Ostia, we are all early birds so I'm used to it." Jean still had trouble wrapping his mind around the fact that Marco was from that city. "Anyways, this will be convenient, because we can help each other out with school stuff."

"Or, you know, we can just do that stuff at school. I work at my uncle's store, so relying on me is not a good idea."

"You work?"

"Yep," Jean said with a smirk, "been working my butt off and everyone at my old school was jealous."

"I see, but why do you work?"

"What do you mean? It's to get money, of course, so that I don't have to rely on anyone."

"Really, is that the only reason?"

Jean wasn't fond of Marco asking several questions about his personal choices, but he figured he was only being friendly. Still, he wasn't going to start telling him his life's story. "Look, its just something I want to do, and I guess…its because I have to."

Marco noticed Jean's expression had changed, "I see." Even Jean had some things he kept to himself, so Marco made a note not to pry into his past for a while. However, Marco could tell that his reasons were for good intentions, "You know, I didn't think you would be this kind of person."

Jean was suddenly curious, "What do you mean?"

"Don't take this seriously, but it seemed like you were a bit of a jerk when I met you yesterday."

"A jerk!" Jean scoffed in disagreement, "you must be mistaking me for Eren."

Marco smiled, "I see, well I'm glad I was wrong anyways. I'll just have to get to know you guys more, so that I don't make another mistake."

Jean had a smug expression, "All you need to know is that Connie is gullible and that Eren is an idiot."

"Sure, Jean." In the very short time that Marco had met Jean, he had already figured out his character. "I wonder if they are the only ones with such traits."

"What was that?"

"Nothing, just mumbling to myself," chuckled Marco.

As the two continued walking towards Caeruleum, they were suddenly approached by a couple of delinquents.

"Hey, looky at what we gots here'z. A couple of kids going to school, aren't they cute." Jean and Marco stepped back as the huge delinquents moved closer. "Which school you guys heading to this morning?"

Jean was holding his tongue, but Marco wasn't planning on staying silent, "You don't need to know that, what do you guys want anyway?" One of the delinquents didn't like his tone as he approached Marco. In a flash, the huge delinquent sucker punched Marco straight into his stomach. Saliva left his mouth as he clutched the throbbing area.

"That smart ass attitude, you guyz must be from Caeruleum."

"Marco!"

"It's alright Jean," said Marco slowly getting up, "it just caught me off-guard." Jean turned back towards them, determining that he would have to fight his way out.

"Look here you bratz," one of the delinquents placed his hands in his pockets, "I don't really care which school you guys 'r from. Students have to pay a toll, and I know you guyz don't want to ruin your education, so fork up."

"That's funny," said Jean, "we never had to pay a toll before."

"Just think of it as a new regime."

There was nothing more that Jean hated than people stealing his hard earned reward. He looked around to see if anybody was near; there was a short man sitting on bench. The man clearly saw them, but it seemed like he was ignoring everything as he took a bite out of his bagel. Disheartened that there was no one else to help them, it seemed like he would have no choice but to give them the money.

To hell with that, he thought to himself, this would only be the first of many. He had to end it now, but just before he was going to act, Marco had grabbed his shoulder. He shook his head, making Jean retract his movements in disappointment. There was no chance they would come out as victors, especially with the difference in size.

"Hey if you don't want to pay now, we could give you an extension. Course we would have to bash you guys 'round a bit, you know, as insurance." The two delinquents laughed as Jean and Marco reached for their pockets. Inside, Jean was beginning to feel completely useless. Damn it! Damn it! Why am I so weak!

As they handed them the money, the two delinquents smiled as they prepared to strike, "Consider this as an extra down payment!"

Jean and Marco closed their eyes out of shock. So it was all for nothing, Jean thought.

Expecting to feel the brunt force of a couple of fists, they were surprised to feel that there was no pain. A load grunting noise followed by a thud was heard in front of them. When Jean opened his eyes first, he saw a short man standing on top of the two delinquents with an unfinished bagel in his hand. "What the…"

Marco also opened his eyes when he heard Jean's comment, "What happened? Who's that?"

"Hey brats, you should be going to school. Stop dawdling and get moving." Feeling a deadly aura resonating from this man, Jean and Marco decided to take this chance to leave.

As they ran away from the scene, the short man reached into the pockets of the unconscious delinquents. "Hm, looks like you guys are students too…Rubeus High School huh? A little too far away don't you think?"

The short man stepped off and looked down, "Tch, my shoes are smudged." Eating his unfinished bagel, he placed the pair of wallets in his pocket and bent down to clean his shoes. "Argh, this is horrible."

Meanwhile, at school, Eren was finding it difficult to keep his excitement in check, because today, he would finally get to meet his idol. It also made him giddier to know that this person was also his homeroom teacher.

"Eren, you need to relax. You're making loud thumping noises on your desk," said Mikasa.

"How can you be relaxed? Levi is our homeroom teacher, did you not look him up last night when I told you?"

The mentioning of his name gave Mikasa an unwelcome feeling; a hateful expression appeared on her face, "I don't understand what the big deal is. So what if he goes to different places and takes pictures of them."

"So what?" Eren was starting to get the attention of the other students in the classroom. "Mikasa, the guy is awesome, he's a legend here, and his work is outstanding. Did you read about the time he jumped from a—"

"Okay I get it." Mikasa wasn't on the same page as Eren; she wasn't looking forward to seeing Levi.

"_Hey, Mikasa, tomorrow is going to be awesome."_

"_Why is that?"_

"_Remember when I said there was someone I look up to that went to this school? Well, he's coming tomorrow. Levi is our homeroom teacher!"_

"_Levi…"_

Mikasa couldn't believe that was the man Eren had looked up to, and one of the reasons why he chose this school. Levi was the last person she thought of to be their homeroom teacher, and after moving to Shiganshina, she was sure that that part of her life was over with. She was glad when she left, because what Eren didn't know, was that Levi wasn't the amazing person he thought he was; at least to her, he wasn't.

She decided to go to her seat, seeing as how nothing she would say to Eren would calm him down.

"Hey Mikasa…good morning," said Sasha as she walked in the classroom.

"Oh, good morning." Mikasa sat down, Sasha followed suit.

"I wonder what our homeroom teacher is going to be like."

"Who knows," said Mikasa, uninterested on the matter. Sasha had picked up on this and decided not to speak about again.

"Oh, it's Christa," chirped one of the boys. The rest of them followed in unison, "Good morning, Christa."

Christa smiled sarcastically, "Ah, good morning to all of you too." Taking her seat, she noticed the boy on her right was acting a bit strange.

"Good morning, Eren. What's got you so worked up?"

Even the topic of Christa couldn't alter Eren's excitement. He moved closer to her as he whispered in her ears, "Our homeroom teacher is going to be Levi."

Keeping the conversation in a low volume, she responded in shock, "Really? That's amazing!"

"I know right?" The two were giggling amongst themselves as Mikasa looked on. She was not sure what kind of person Christa was, but it seemed like she knew Eren well. She hadn't asked him about their relationship, because it didn't seem like a big deal; but she was growing curious.

Just then, the door opened furiously revealing two exhausted classmates.

"Oh, there you guys are," said Connie, "why do you two look out of breath?"

"We had a bit of an obstacle on our way here," said Marco catching his breath.

"These two huge jerks came up to us and tried to steal our money, spouting nonsense like 'paying a toll,'" said Jean.

Eren finally stopped his jittering as he overheard his friends, and decided to approach them. Christa followed him out of concern.

"Some guys tried to steal your money?" said Eren.

"Yeah, it was bit terrifying," said Marco as he held his stomach, the pain was still fresh.

"Marco here took a full punch to the stomach," said Jean.

"Oh no! Marco are you okay?" said Christa.

He blushed, "Uh yeah I'm fine, thanks for the concern…Ow."

Jean slapped him on the back, "This guy is pretty resilient."

"Thanks Jean," said Marco, "did any of you guys have to 'pay tolls' from guys like them?"

"No way, that's never happened before," said Connie, "But if it did, I would have fought back. It's too bad only Jean was with you, Marco.

Jean snarled at the boy as Eren came to his defense, "Easy, and Connie, there was now way you would've done anything."

"You don't know that!"

"More importantly, aside from Marco being hit in the stomach, you guys look fine. How did you get out of that situation?" Eren was curious that neither of them had any bruises, and the others soon noticed that too.

"Well I didn't see how, but this short guy took the two of them down. I mean he stood over them like it was nothing, while he had a bagel in his hands."

Eren, Christa, and Connie looked at each other.

"What kind of bagel was it?" said Connie.

"I'm not sure, probably a French bagel with some kind of cream—Hey! I'm serious! Marco, tell them."

"Well, I didn't open my eyes until I heard Jean," said Marco realizing that the story sounded ridiculous.

"Marco!" The others started to laugh.

The bell rang as the students went to their seats. Today, the students of Class 1-A will officially meet their homeroom teacher for the next four years. They waited patiently; there were no sounds coming from the hallway. Only a few minutes had passed, but some were beginning to doubt this person's arrival.

"Is this guy going to show up?" said Sasha.

All of a sudden, Mikasa heard footsteps approaching their classroom as she responded to the brunette, "Yes he will."

The door slammed open; the students were taken aback from the sudden entrance. Eren had a bright grin as he whispered to Christa, "It's Levi!"

Mikasa was thankful that she was sitting in the back for now. Soon, she would have to confront Levi, but for now she would remain silent on the matter. Levi locked the door behind him and walked towards the front desk as he placed his cup of coffee down. He stood still eyeing each one of them as though they were being tested. Scanning the room, he noticed Jean and Marco. Oh looks like they're in my class, he thought to himself.

Meanwhile, some of the students were surprised how short he was and others thought he had the face of a model. But Jean and Marco were the most surprised to see him.

"Hold on," a bead of sweat rolled down Jean's face, "that's him." Marco had the same expression as him.

Connie had heard Jean's comment, "Eh, what do you mean that's him?" As Connie looked back at Jean, he failed to notice that Levi was standing in front of his desk. Jean and Marco tried to signal Connie to turn back around, but Connie couldn't understand their gestures. A pair of hands clutched his shaved head, turning it towards the front of the class.

"Class has started."

Connie struggled to reply as the force of a dozen boulders was crushing his noggin. "Y-Y-Y-Yes sir!" He grabbed onto the desk for dear life; Jean and Marco could only look on as their friend was being tortured.

"Is that all you have to say? Where is my apology?"

Connie had to force his words to come out, though they were a poor choice of words, "E-Eh? W-What do you mean?"

Suddenly the force of a dozen boulders became one of a hundred; Connie was certain that his skull was going to crack as the pressure of his palms was causing his desk to bend. Most of the other students were terrified at the sight before them, now wishing that Erwin would be their permanent teacher. Having the principal is much better than this devil, they thought.

"Oh man, this guy is scary," whispered Sasha, "Mikasa what are we gonna do?"

Mikasa, on the other hand, showed no fear, "We don't have to do anything, just don't freak out."

Sasha looked on as Connie was being picked up from his chair, his head still clamped by the monster's hands. "I'm starting to freak out Mikasa," she said trying to keep her voice as low as possible.

Mikasa ignored the girl for the moment, as she turned toward Eren's direction. She was sure that he would no longer find Levi to be 'awesome' after this performance. But as she peeked at the brown-haired boy, she saw him looking straight at the white board. He had a firm posture; his hands were grasped together on top of his desk, and his face…it looked like he was trying to hold in a grin. "Are you kidding me? What is this fool doing," said Mikasa.

"I-I-I-I'm sorry," said Connie.

"Sorry for what?" said Levi.

"F-For talking during c-class." As soon as Connie got the last syllable out, Levi released him. Connie landed back on his seat as Levi stared at Jean, "Don't think I didn't see you talking." Jean sat motionless as the other students waited patiently at what Levi was going to do next.

"Okay, I'll get right to it. My name is Levi. You don't need to know my last name, and if you ask for it, I'll throw you from the rooftop." Levi sighed as he eased up, "But since I am a teacher, and we'll be together for the next four years…you may refer to me as Levi Sensei." Some of the students were puzzled, was that him being considerate? "Now that introductions are done, I'll tell you what we will be doing in this class… First, this is homeroom, you will be using this time to handle your school-related responsibilities and for studying. This is not a free period, understand?" It was more of a command than an instruction, as students simply nodded in agreement. "Good, that's all. I'll be here if you need help." As Levi was about to sit down, he noticed a hand in the air.

"Excuse me Levi Sensei!" It was Eren, who took the liberty to stand up.

"What is it…Eh, what's your name?"

A small smile appeared on his face, "Eren Jaeger sir!"

"Relax, this isn't the military."

Connie rubbed his head as he mumbled, "Feels like it is."

"Sorry, um…you see, we were hoping you would talk to us about our classes and also…I think we all want to know what your previous jobs were like.

No we don't!Everyone had thought of the same thing.

This one's lively, thought Levi. Taking a seat down, he said, "I'm not going to start telling you my life's story, Jaeger. And as for your classes, the principal should have talked to you about that yesterday when he was subbing for me."

"Well, he didn't really tell us anything important." Eren started recollecting the pointless chatter their principal was going on about.

"_So, every Friday is sub day! You'll have to work together if you want to get those delicious sandwiches! HA HA HA."_

"Tch, what the hell is that man doing," mumbled Levi. "Fine, but pay attention cause I won't say it again." Levi explained how Caeruleum operated. Every student took six classes a year that included homeroom, the required courses to graduate, and electives. Each student was also responsible to take part in a club or sports team sometime during their first year. There were also the events that occurred throughout their years here such as field trips, school festivals, the inter-high school competition, and others.

"But most importantly," said Levi, "each of you will learn to be the strongest, fearless and smartest individual. Not for your friends or your family, but for yourself. It may seem difficult at first, but you don't have to worry, that's why I'm here." The students of Class 1-A finally found a bit of comfort towards their homeroom teacher.

Suddenly, a loud thump was heard outside the classroom followed by the sounds of groaning. "Come on, let me in. Who locks a classroom door?" The muffling noise and banging sounds didn't sway Levi as he took a sip from his coffee cup. "It won't take long I promise!"

Levi sighed, "You, baldy, open the door."

"Its Connie," he said mumbling, as he walked towards the front door and unlocked it.

"Thank you…Oh, Levi! You actually did come back," said Hange. Hange Zoe was in charge of the science classes. Some of the students of Class 1-A have her as their biology teacher, and they were well aware of how insane she was.

"Of course," said Levi.

"Was it because of Erwin, or maybe it was because of…"

"Aren't you supposed to be teaching your homeroom class?"

"Hm, oh they're fine. I got some smart kids, and speaking of kids, I wanted to meet the batch of students you will be taking care of." Hange scanned the classroom, only stopping when her gaze landed on Eren.

"Are you done? Unlike you I'm not ignoring my class," said Levi.

"Hey, I'm not ignoring them, I love my students. Unlike you, these guys seem to be scared of you." Hange approached one of the students, "Hey, did Levi tell you what you will do during your time in Caeruleum?"

"Um, Sensei told us that we would become strong, fearless, and smart individuals."

Hange looked at the student quizzically, "That's good, but that's not all you should do." She motioned towards the front of the class as she said; "Aside from that, you must remember to create wonderful memories that you will cherish for the rest of your lives. And trust me, they will come naturally to you. So go ahead, pull some pranks, be the class clown, confess to the one you love. Like Levi hear, don't have any regrets." Hange raised her hands up like she didn't care.

"If I recall, you were the class clown."

"Eh, I was?" Hange quickly brought her hands down, "You're funny Levi."

"Whatever, just get out of here already."

"Just one more thing…who are your class representatives? I assume you don't know since you weren't here yesterday."

Levi had forgotten about that. Every homeroom needed two representatives, which were chosen every year. "Ah, I suppose you're right. Jaeger, did Erwin handle this?"

"No Levi Sensei, he told us you were going to do it."

"Figures."

"Well, you still have a few minutes before the next class starts, I'll make my exit. Oh, Eren, Mikasa, Jean, Marco, Connie, Sasha, and Christa, I'll see you all in biology class, bye-bye"

As she left, Levi sighed, thankful that the four-eyes was no longer here, but there was still one more issue to deal with. "Let's get this over with, I need two representatives." The class was silent; nobody was interested in the position. Levi grew irritated, "Okay, let me ask again…I need two representatives." Eren raised his hand. "Good, that's one. I need another one."

"W-Wait a minute Levi Sensei, I wasn't trying to volunteer, I just had an idea of how we can choose someone."

"Oh and what is that?"

"We can vote for the positions, I mean I think its fair that way."

"Its only the second day, there is no way you all know each other that well to pick someone, and I highly doubt there will be a majority."

"Actually, Levi Sensei, we elect Christa!" The majority of the boys stood up in agreement, eliciting a shock from Levi.

"Yeah Christa will be perfect, you'll do it right Christa?" said one of the girls.

Christa was taken aback by the sudden announcement, figuring that no matter what she did, this was going to happen. "Y-Yeah, I don't mind."

"Yeah!" "Awesome!" "Our class rep is the cutest!"

"Alright, shut up now. I want the two of you to meet me at lunch so we can make it official," said Levi.

"Levi-sensei, we still need another rep," said Marco.

"No we don't, Jaeger is the other one." Eren and Mikasa had the same reaction at the sudden turn of events.

"E-Eh, but I said I wasn't volunteering, Levi Sensei," said Eren in disbelief.

"I heard you, but we don't have time. I've decided you'll be the other class rep. Any problems, Jaeger?"

Eren sat back down, "N-No."

"Good, class dismissed."

Christa held Eren on the shoulder as she smiled, "Don't worry, it shouldn't be that bad."

"Mm, I guess not." Eren felt comfort in her words; at least he wasn't going to do this alone. "I look forward to working with you, Christa."

A slight blush appeared on her face, "Y-Yeah, lets do our best!"

As the two showed their gratitude, Mikasa looked on; something was making her feel strange. With Eren being the class representative, he would be staying late after school almost everyday. She had enjoyed their walks from school, and now it would be rare if they ever do it again. Instead, he would be walking home with Christa. What was once curiosity became worry, as Mikasa stared at the blonde girl sharing a smile with Eren. The strange feeling creped deep in her chest, and she didn't like it. As Mikasa took a deep breath, she knew that there was only one person to blame for this. Damn that Levi, she thought to herself.

"Mikasa? What's wrong," said Sasha.

Mikasa snapped out of her thoughts, "Oh, nothing."

"I see, well lets head to our next class." Mikasa nodded as she gathered her belongings. The day had just begun, and though seeing Levi was excruciating for her, there were still the other teachers of Caeruleum High School to deal with.

* * *

**Things are getting interesting, well to me at least lol. Thanks for reading and leave a review to tell me what you think! See ya later :)**


	13. A Freshman's Schedule

**I'm back! Lol. You guys didn't miss me ha. Anyways, here's another chapter. I hope you all enjoy it! :)**

* * *

A Freshman's Schedule

Levi was the first to leave homeroom as he made his way to the faculty office. He still needed to settle in and, presuming that the office was filthy, he wasn't going to have much time before his next class begins. He would have to deal with Erwin later, even though he wanted to tell him off for his so called "substitute teaching" yesterday. Levi angrily mumbled to himself as students noticed him passing by; none of them had the audacity to say anything. As Levi turned the corner of the hallway, he bumped into Petra. She was able to grasp her folder of paperwork from falling, but was unable to do the same for her glasses.

"Ouch…watch where you're going student," said Petra noticing the height of the figure in front of her.

"Student? I hope you're joking around, Petra," said Levi.

As Petra squinted her eyes, she realized that this was no student. In fact, this was the person she had admired her whole life. Petra blushed, shocked to see him as she said, "L-L-Levi! You're here! I knew you were coming back today but…" When she heard the news from Erwin that Levi was going to be a teacher here, she had been rehearsing everything she was going to say to him. Still, having him right in front of her, and to meet in such a way, left her faltering, "I-I'm so sorry! Let me j-just…Ah!" She lost her balance; her face was about to come into contact with the floor, until Levi grabbed her arm.

"Hey, what's wrong with you? I don't remember you being this clumsy," said Levi as he guided her to stand straight.

"I'm just a mess right now, please forgive me Levi. It's really not normally like this." Petra avoided his gaze, not wanting to disappoint him anymore.

Levi turned his attention to the pair of glasses on the floor and picked them up. "Since when did you start wearing glasses?" Levi handed her the item in question.

"Oh, they're just for reading. I was doing some paperwork for Erwin." Levi was watching intently as she put the glasses back on, "W-What is it? Do they look weird?"

"They look good on you," said Levi. Petra blushed furiously as she clutched her folder. "You're still his assistant though, huh."

Petra was suddenly beaming with confidence, "Actually, he promoted me. I'm the vice-principal now." She was looking forward to seeing his reaction.

"Oh? Not bad," was all he said. To normal people that was not much, but to Petra, who had known him since they attended Caeruleum together, this was the biggest sign of appreciation that he would show.

"Y-You think so? Thank you Levi! I really did work hard, and I guess all that assistant work finally paid off!"

"Well, Erwin does need a babysitter…so, who's his assistant now?"

"He doesn't have one."

"Really?"

"Yes, I mean, he can manage on his own now, but sometimes I help him out. For example, I make sure no one slacks off, I organize Erwin's schedule, and I help him with the paperwork. And this one time he didn't show up, so I had to do a lot of things."

Levi was sensing something wrong, but decided not to say anything for now, "I see…well keep working hard."

"Thanks! Oh by the way, everything you need is in the faculty office, and you need to fill out the class representative form. I left it on your desk."

"Thanks."

"And Levi…"

"What is it?"

"It's great to see you again. I'm sure the others would be happy to see you, make sure you say high to them, when you get the chance."

It has been a while since he came to Shiganshina, let alone Caeruleum High School. He wouldn't mind seeing some more old faces again. "If I'm not busy, I will."

"Then that's good, bye…Captain." Petra hurried her pace as she walked away; another blush crept on her face.

"Captain? I haven't heard someone call me that in a long time." Levi proceeded to the faculty office.

**2****nd**** Period: Algebra**

Mikasa was looking forward to attending Caeruleum, but having Levi as a homeroom teacher made it difficult to enjoy her high school life. She was glad that she didn't have to see him all day; in fact he was the teacher for two of her classes, homeroom and literature. For the majority of the day she would be at ease, but for some reason, it seemed like he was teaching her math class too.

"Come on, It's not that difficult. I was able to solve these problems a year younger than you guys." Oluo Bozado, a self-proclaimed math genius and Levi's best friend, at least that's what he thinks. "If you can't do these, you aren't worthy of calling yourself Caeruleum students."

"Excuse me, but isn't it a little too early to be doing these much problems," said Jean.

"Geez already whining. The best way to learn how to solve math problems is by repetition and practice." As Oluo walked down the aisle of students, he noticed that Eren had finished. "Hey, are you done already?"

Eren looked up, "Yep, finished all of it."

Oluo grabbed the paper off his desk, "Let's see if they're even right." As he scanned the paper, a small bead of seat rolled down his face; every answer so far was correct. That was the case, until he looked at the last problem. "Oh, looks like you messed up on the last one. Confidence is good kid, but make sure you're doing it the right way." Oluo regained his slight loss of composure.

Eren checked the last problem and suddenly remembered something, "Oh yeah I forgot to ask, Oluo."

"It's Mr. Bozado."

"Mr. Bozado…I was wondering why this last one was here. It seemed like it was meant to be for a different class, so I thought you made a mistake."

Oluo checked it again and realized that it definitely was for a different class, a much more advanced math class. Still, his pride wouldn't allow Eren to take advantage of that. "Uh nope, we'll go over that in the future. Nice try though, heh." As Eren took his paper back, he rustled his hair trying to figure it out again.

Now I got to add another lesson to my lecture, thought Oluo. Just as he was about to go back to the front of the class to end this, he noticed another student waiting patiently at her desk. "Are you done?"

"Yes, Mr. Bozado," said Mikasa.

First the other kid, now this one. What's going on here, thought Oluo. Looking at the sheet in front of him, he was growing a bit nervous once again. But he relaxed knowing that the last problem was too difficult for any of these students to answer. As he glanced at the last problem, he couldn't believe what he saw, "H-Hey, wasn't the last one too hard?"

"A little, but I've seen it before," said Mikasa.

"How? Did your last school teach you this?"

"I learned it on my own…is there something wrong, Mr. Bozado?"

"N-no, just…tch, whatever, good job." He sounded like Levi when he said his last comment; it irked Mikasa. "Alright! That's enough, let's move on with the today's lesson."

Meanwhile, at the faculty office, Levi was cleaning his work desk. He should have been finished by now, but a certain principal was diverting his focus.

"Levi, how do you like your desk? Memories of high school again, huh? HA HA" said Erwin.

"Why do all of the teachers work in this room?"

"Ah, glad you asked. I believe it's a great idea to have teachers working closely together. You know, like a unified taskforce."

"The school's budget doesn't allow teachers to have their own office, right?"

"Hm…so, how do you like your students?"

Don't dodge the question, thought Levi. He motioned towards a bookshelf and wiped the dust off; pondering Erwin's question, he responded, "They seem to be a lively bunch."

"Has anyone stood out for you?"

Levi paused for a moment, then said, "No, but that might change."

"Hopefully. With the way the world is now, they will need to…Let's walk around a bit, are you done cleaning?"

Levi only responded with a stare.

**3****rd**** Period: World History**

"So, Shiganshina was built two thousand years ago in the year 740. Its long survival is credited to its strategic location and valuable resources. As time passed, people emigrated from this city and spread as far as they could, which eventually led to the formation of the region we know today as Herz. Institutions like Viridis and Rubeus were spawned years afterwards in the surrounding area. Any questions so far?" said Nanaba.

"Um, Miss Nanaba, why were those schools built close to Shiganshina?" Christa had raised her hand, "It seemed kind of random."

"Well, that's because Shiganshina is the only city in Herz that prioritizes education more than any other city in the region. The first principal of Viridis made this happen in collaboration with Rubeus and Caeruleum. With the results being strong, intelligent graduates, Herz granted a certain amount freedom to this city and its surrounding area. Such as, less laws on how the schools operate." Nanaba thought if she should talk about how this isn't exactly a good idea.

She changed her mind when she saw Marco raising his hand. "So, was Caeruleum the last school to be built?" he said.

"Caeruleum was the first institution built in Herz. Although at first, this was not meant to be a school. It was originally built for the home of the First Prime Minister."

"Really?" Marco smiled brightly.

"Yes, the first Prime Minister loved Shiganshina. He lived here many years up until his death. However, since then, no other Prime Minister has lived in Shiganshina. So they changed this to a school."

"That's kind of freaky, his ghost might be wandering around," whispered Connie to Jean.

"Okay, lets see if you've been paying attention. Connie."

"Yes Ma'am!"

"Do you know when Shiganshina was constructed?"

"Um…a long time ago?"

"Very funny Connie, it was built two thousand years ago. Eren." Eren had always admired history, because of how many stories there were. It was like reading a never-ending book where events were around every corner; moments that were glorious and others that were dark. "What major event occurred during that time period?"

"The Titans. There was a war that almost destroyed humanity, but we endured it and won."

"That's right. I hope you all never forget how your ancestors fought, and use their strength to challenge life's struggles." Nanaba's goal has always been to teach her students about the world they live in. It's past, present, and, at times, the future possibilities that they will encounter.

Levi an Erwin were walking along the corridors, passing by various classrooms.

"So they were from Rubeus," said Erwin looking at the ID of the two delinquents that Levi grabbed. "Did they say anything?"

"Unfortunately, they went to sleep as soon as I hit them. How long has this been going on?"

"It's the first time I've heard of this."

"At least that you know of," said Levi, "what do you make of this?"

"I'm not sure, but if they were targeting our students specifically, then there is something going on."

"And here I thought you knew everything."

Erwin chuckled, "I don't know everything that's going on, Levi."

"Really? Cause I can't tell with your facial expressions."

Erwin handed Levi back the identification cards, "Give them back to the students when you can."

"Why should I?"

"You might find more information. In the meantime, I need to think of something to prevent this from happening again."

Levi could never figure out what Erwin was thinking. There were times when he was dead serious, and others when he showed concern for his peers. But no matter what his outward expression was like, it always seemed like he was scheming a plan underneath it all.

"Anyways, how is your publishing company going? I hope you didn't break it up because of me," said Erwin.

Levi placed the ID cards back in his pocket, "Someone else is taking charge of it while I'm away, but I still keep in contact with them."

"I see, that's good then," said Erwin smiling.

Levi glanced out the window; a flock of birds caught his attention. "Erwin…I'll stay here for the four years and teach those kids what I know like you want me too. But after that, I'm leaving."

"Of course, I remember. Although, you might be surprised how good of a teacher you can be."

"We'll see about that, by the way, you still haven't told me your reason."

"Ah, I'll tell you later."

Levi glared back at him, not pleased with his response, "Hey, don't hide stuff from me."

"Oh, are you nervous? If it concerns you that much, why did you accept this job not knowing what my reasons were?"

Levi sighed, "Because I owe you, I figured this will make us even."

Erwin smiled, "I see. Still, I can't tell you the specifics now, just know that I asked you to come because I need your help."

"Tch, whatever. I'm heading back to the office. Oh and now that I'm here, you need to start working a lot more, don't let Petra do everything." Levi would have to wait to get all of his answers; why Erwin wanted him here, what he was planning, the status of this school, the delinquents from Rubeus, everything. For now, he would do his job and teach those brats.

**4****th**** Period: Biology**

"OOOOOOHHHHH THE WONDERS OF SCIENCE!" A slight drool was cascading down Hange's mouth; the students cringed at the sight. "Biology deals with the study of living organisms, and we will go through as much as we can; plants, animals, and…" More drool rolled down her mouth, "humans." A slight shriek escaped Christa's mouth. "So, lets continue where we left off. Jean."

"Yes, Miss Hange?" You crazy woman, thought Jean.

"Come up here." Jean was a little hesitant as he approached the front of the class. "The human body can be resilient at times, but it's still incredibly vulnerable." Hange picked up a scalpel and motioned it towards his arm, "for example, the smallest cut…"

"W-Wait a minute Miss Hange," said Jean as beads of sweat rolled down his face. Some students were too scared to see what would happen, while others, more specifically Eren, watched in enjoyment. In a millisecond, Hange glided the scalpel across his skin, eliciting a small flow of blood to breach out. "Ouch!"

"And as you can see, blood easily flows out. Enough cuts, and the human body will die out." Hange picked up a q-tip and scraped it across Jean's small open wound. "But even though the body is vulnerable, it is amazing to see that from this spec of blood, exist the building blocks of life…cells. And there are countless of them. Any questions?"

"Can I get a band aide or something," said Jean holding his arm.

"Ah yes, sorry about that. I believe a visual presentation will stick to a student's mind better." Hange handed Jean a band aide as he walked back to his desk.

"Yeah, it will stick alright," said Jean. As he sat back down, he noticed Marco in a daze, "Hey, what's wrong with you?"

"I-I'm fine, just not really good with blood."

"What? But you're from Ostia."

"Yeah, sorry, just give me a minute." As Marco was regaining his composure, Hange continued her method of teaching.

"Quiz time!" The students moaned in unison. "Don't worry, it won't be graded. I just want to see how much you all know," Hange handed out the papers, "If I see that you all understand certain topics, then we can skip them and save some time. Which means less homework."

It was a good deal as each student tried their hardest, and it wasn't long until one of them had already finished.

Eren walked up and handed her the quiz, "I'm finished." Mikasa finished as well, but decided to wait for the boy to sit back down.

"Oh, Eren, thank you." As Hange grabbed the paper from his hand, her eyes became fixated on the brown-haired boy. Eren stood still not sure what was happening, as Hange continued to stare at him. Suddenly, she began mumbling, "You look more like your mother…"

"Um, excuse me, Miss Hange? I didn't catch that." Eren wasn't sure, but he thought he heard the word "mother."

Not waiting any longer, Mikasa walked toward them and handed her the quiz. "I'm finished too, Miss Hange."

Hange was snapped out of her thoughts, "Ah! Sorry, thank you. You two can sit back down." Mikasa and Eren looked at each other as they shrugged it off.

As they walked away, Hange looked at the two quizzes and smiled; they were all correct.

**Lunch Break**

"Finally, lunch time," said Connie exhausted from the day so far.

"Yeah, high school kind of drains your energy, you know?" said Marco.

"And apparently it drains blood too," said Jean pointing at his bandaged arm.

"Oh, come on, it just a scratch," said Eren.

"Forget you, it hurts." Connie, suddenly, slapped his arm. "Hey, what the hell Connie!"

"Did that hurt?"

"N-Not really."

"Then you're fine, now lets eat!"

"That's not the point, I was attacked by a—" Jean's stomach started growling, "never mind. I hate you guys."

As the boys began eating, Eren turned to look around the lunch area. Mikasa had told him, when they walked back home yesterday, that she was fine during lunch, but it still bothered him. After all, he felt a little guilty for abandoning her, and the last thing he wanted was for her to be alone; like when he found her eating alone in the soccer field that day.

Speaking of said girl, Mikasa appeared into the lunch area as she was looking for Eren. When she finally found him, Eren sensed it and as he scanned once more, he found her at last. The two exchanged eye contact for what seemed like hours, until Eren smiled, a sign for her to come over. Mikasa tightened her grip on her bento as she began walking over, but was stopped by Sasha. Mikasa had briefly forgotten that she was with this girl.

"Mikasa, where are you going?"

"I was going to eat with them," said Mikasa as she pointed at the four boys.

"With the boys? Do you know them?"

"Oh, I forgot to mention that. I went to middle school with some of them."

"Oh, so they're you're friends?"

"Well, one of them is. I'm not really sure about the others. I guess you can call them…allies."

Sasha laughed, "Allies?" Mikasa wasn't sure what she was laughing about, what else would she call them. Seeing that Mikasa wasn't joking, Sasha calmed herself, "So, is it okay if eat with them too?"

Mikasa nodded, "Of course." The two girls made their way toward the group of boys.

"So like I was saying, Marco" said Jean, "how can you be afraid of blooooooo—M-M-Mikasa?" Jean stood up straight as if he were in the military.

Connie, Marco and Eren turned around to see the two girls standing next to their table.

"Oh, Mikasa, where have you been?" said Eren.

"I was with her, this is…"

"Sasha Blaus, N-Nice to meet you all," Sasha curtsied oddly towards them and showed an unconvincing smile. The boys didn't read too much into it for now.

"So, is this your friend, Mikasa?" Eren smirked at Mikasa, who noticed it completely.

Meanwhile, Sasha glanced towards Mikasa looking for any sign of confirmation that she was her friend, "E-Eh, I wonder."

Mikasa kept her stoic demeanor as she thought to herself. Well, I'm not sure if Sasha would want me to say that yet, and if I say that we're allies, everyone might laugh just like she did. "We're acquaintances."

Sasha lowered her head comically. That relationship status was fine for now, she thought.

Eren sighed, "Well, it's nice to meet you, I'm Eren."

"Um, my name is Connie."

"Yo, I'm Jean."

"Hello, I'm Marco, its nice to meet you Sasha and…Mikasa, was it?" Marco turned towards the guys, "Do you guys already know Mikasa?"

"Oh, I forgot," said Eren, "Mikasa went to the same middle school as us too."

Connie had already gone back to eating, his voice was barely audible through his munching, "Yep, juz de four uf us."

"Hey close your mouth, nobody wants to see that," said Jean. Suddenly, the sound of laughter was heard coming from the ponytailed brunette. Even though they barely knew her, the guys and Mikasa felt this was more natural for her.

When she noticed that everyone was watching her, Sasha immediately stopped laughing, "O-Oh, um," she cleared her throat, "that's disgusting, please don't do that." Shyly, she took her seat on the table next to Marco, a couple feet of space between them. Mikasa also followed, but elected to sit next to Eren, a couple of inches of space between them.

"So, Sasha" said Eren, trying to ignore what just happened, "are you from around here?"

"I'm from a small town called Dauper, its out in the country."

"Oh, that's where the windmills are at," said Marco.

"Yep, there are so many of them that it almost blankets the ground when you look at it from the sky." Sasha's comment made Eren ponder at the image. It was definitely something he wanted to see firsthand.

"Eren, is that all you're going to eat?" Mikasa began picking at his lunch bag, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"It's fine, better than yesterday. More importantly," Eren returned his attention to Sasha, "Are you okay with that?"

Sasha had nothing but an apple and some water. "Y-Yeah, its enough."

"Whoa, are you sure? Hange's class takes the life out of you and you need to recharge," said Connie.

Sasha glanced towards Mikasa's bento. "I was going to bring something like Mikasa's bento, but my mom said it was pointless."

"Oh you mean the lunchbox," said Eren.

Mikasa stopped eating, "It's not a lunchbox. It's a bento."

"It's the same thing."

"It's not the same," Mikasa tightened her fist.

"It's a box, with your lunch. Ergo, lunchbox," Eren pointed at the item.

"Lunchboxes don't have chopsticks in them."

"What? That doesn't matter."

"Take it back." The others noticed the tension escalating between them.

"No."

"Yes."

As the two were growling at each other, Jean spoke up, "Punch him in the face, Mikasa."

"Oh, dinner and a show," said Connie.

"C-Calm down you guys," said Marco.

As order was trying to be restored, Sasha was wondering which of these guys was the friend that Mikasa mentioned. She figured it probably wasn't Eren with the way they're glaring at each other. It's probably Jean then, she thought.

"Um, excuse me," said Christa as she approached the group. Everyone stopped what they were doing and shifted their attention towards the blonde girl. "Eren, we need to go see Levi in the teacher's office, remember?"

Mikasa released her grip on Eren's collar. "Oh yeah, I forgot," said Eren as he sighed, "I'll be back."

Mikasa watched as Eren and Christa walked side by side. Sooner or later, she needed to ask Eren about this; why were they so familiar with each other. She had to know, because she didn't want a situation like the one with Clovis to happen again. As Eren held the door for Christa, Eren turned around and yelled, "Mikasa!" All the students faced the source of the call as Mikasa perked her ears. "It's a lunchbox!" Eren scurried inside with Christa, who was confused at what he meant by that.

"No its—Agh!" Forget it, she thought. I don't care about him.

Eren and Christa entered the faculty office, where Levi waited with arms crossed. "About time you guys got here," he said.

"Sorry, Levi Sensei," said Christa.

Levi took out the class representative form and handed it to them, "Sign this. In the meantime, I'll tell you your responsibilities." Christa signed her name first, and Eren followed next. "As class reps, you'll be in charge of reporting the status of our homeroom class when you go to the class rep meetings, discuss and solve any problems amongst your classmates, and, in terms of school events, you'll follow the direction of the student council president. That's it, shouldn't be that bad right?"

"To be honest, I thought it was going to be a lot more work," chuckled Eren.

"Well, that depends on homeroom. Also, if anything school related happens out of campus, tell me about it first. Got it?" The two nodded in agreement, "Good, you're free. I'll see you next class period."

Eren and Christa exited the room, and walked back towards the lunch area. There was still time before the next class started.

"So, do you still have Armin with you?" said Christa.

"Eh, uh, yeah. He's still as feisty as ever."

"Sounds fun, I would like to see him again." Christa grasped her hands together as she lowered her head.

Eren was truly glad that he wasn't doing this class rep job alone. Even if it was Christa, he felt relaxed and maybe, he thought, they could become friends again. "If you're not busy, you could come by and see him."

Christa's eyes grew wide-eyed, her head shooting back up, "R-Really? I'll try to set aside some time then."

"Yeah, no problem." The two of them smiled at each other; their relationship was beginning to rebuild.

**5****th**** period: Literature**

"Pay attention for roll call," said Levi as he held the sheet in front of him.

This is it, Mikasa thought, I was able to avoid him in the morning, but this time he'll know that I'm in his class.

It was time for her to face Levi, and she was beginning to feel anxious. It didn't help her preparation when she was the first name on the list. "Mikasa Ackerman."

She raised her hands slowly, "Here."

"Sasha Blaus."

"Eh?" Mikasa began mumbling to herself, "Does he not remember?" She didn't know if she should be glad or pissed off that Levi didn't make any reaction. "He should remember, what's going on?" She decided to confront him after school; the waiting was killing her, and she had to confirm if he did forget or not.

"Looks like everyone is hear." Levi picked up his book, "Eren, read page 155."

"Yes Levi Sensei." Eren was thrilled to have Levi as a teacher twice, so much so that he couldn't stop grinning.

"Eren, fix your face."

"Sorry."

As Eren read out loud, Levi noticed that some of his homeroom students were here. He started thinking if any of them would grow up into capable individuals, but even more so, he wondered if he would have an affect on them. It wasn't self-doubt that made him ask this; rather, it was whether they were willing to change, and if they were strong enough to not give up. Erwin was right, its not that they have to change, they need to change. Will any of them stand out? Yet another answer he would have to wait for.

"How was your class, Nanaba?" Erwin had entered the faculty office to check on the teachers.

"Oh, Erwin, isn't Petra usually the one that checks on us?" Nanaba was focusing on her paperwork.

"I decided to let Petra rest a bit."

"That's a first Erwin, does this mean you're going to give her a day off soon," said Eld.

Hange approached behind him, "You don't know? It's because Levi told him too.

"Eh really? I knew it. Levi makes everyone accountable," said Oluo with a proud smile.

"Still, I'm surprised to see you moving around. Don't you all think so?" All of the teachers nodded in agreement.

Does everyone think I'm lazy, thought Erwin. "I'm always around, you just don't see me. Now, back to work Hange."

"Of course, principal."

"Oh and Nanaba," Erwin got her attention away from her papers, "start teaching your students about the system in Shiganshina."

"Why all of a sudden?" The other teachers listened intently. "You've always told me to avoid discussing that topic."

"I believe it's a good time to teach them how their country behaves towards this city. Talk about it briefly to all your students. Upperclassmen and freshman."

"I see, okay, Erwin. If you think that's a good idea."

"Wait a minute," said Hange, "The real reason we don't teach it is because the board of school directors prevents the three schools from teaching that topic." Nanaba was unaware of this fact. "We only go as far as politics, we don't mention how the government of Herz uses Shiganshina. This is not a good idea."

"Hange is right," said Gunther, "If the other schools find out about this, we might face severe consequences."

"Don't worry, they won't find out. The charade has to end sooner or later," said Erwin. The others looked at each other with concern at first, but realized that they all trusted Erwin. They know that he never does something without a reason.

"Jeez, you always have something planned," said Hange, "still, its nice to see you active once in a while.

"There you go again, Hange," said Erwin chuckling.

"What's with the laughing!?" Petra had walked in, "You're all aware that we still haven't turned in the student records to the district, right?" The vice-principal's aura was powerful, more so than the principal's, as everyone quickly went back to work. "Erwin, Keith has been trying to reach you. You're supposed to be in your office."

"Ah, of course, thank you Petra. Work hard everyone." None of them responded to his comment.

**6****th**** Period: Gym**

"Warm up, we will be running in the track field today." Mike Zacharius held a great status in Caeruleum. Even though Levi is here now, Mike is still considered the strongest and scariest teacher around. The principal has also grown to be a little cautious around him, though that's mostly because of Mike's weird habit of smelling people. This, of course, doesn't work well with his current job, as people tend to mistake him for a pervert on top of his already prominent features. Regardless, he does know how to push people to try their best, and this will become important for each student to understand.

"Hey Mikasa." Eren approached the girl as she was stretching her arms; he quickly noticed that she was ignoring him. "Still mad, huh?" Seeing as how she wasn't going to change until he apologized, he said, "Fine, it's a bento, not a lunchbox."

Instantly, Mikasa faced him, "Thank you, so what is it?"

That was fast, he thought, I guess she doesn't hold grudges that long. "Since this was our last class, I thought I should tell you that you can go on home without me."

"Why? Did you get in trouble again?"

"No, I didn't. I just have to do some stuff with Christa. It'll probably take a while, so don't wait for me, okay?"

Christa. She was the focus of his life so far, which makes sense since they were the class reps. But for some reason, it seemed more than that. As this keeps up, it will be the only thing he will ever talk about and she was afraid to lose her friend. She needed to ask now. "Eren, I've been meaning to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"Do you know Christa?"

"Of course, we're class reps."

"That's not what I mean…have you two met before? Is she an old friend?"

Eren was puzzled, "Why are you asking this all of a sudden?"

"I'm just curious."

Mikasa held her arm as she shyly looked away. Her expression was kind of cute, and Eren noticed this. As he stared at her a sudden thought came to his mind. Wait a minute…is she jealous? No, that can't be right. Why would she be jealous? A slight blush illuminated on his face as a sudden realization came to him. "Mikasa…"

"Everyone, onto the track field. Eren, Mikasa, you'll be with first group that runs," said Mike pushing the two of them towards the starting line.

Mikasa, Eren, Connie, Sasha, and Marco lined up.

"I'll tell you about it later," said Eren, deciding that now was obviously not the right time.

"Okay," said Mikasa. She put aside the issue as well, as she prepared for the race. She had to admit, this was going to be interesting, because it was the first time she would get to race Eren. Today, she will know who is the fastest.

"Oh yeah, I'm going to come in second," said Connie.

"Second? Why not first?" said Sasha.

"Eren is the fastest, he always gets first."

"Don't give up Connie," said Marco, "there is a first time for everything."

"On your mark…get set…go!" Mike blew whistled as the five runners jolted along the track.

It was only going to be one lap, because Mike wanted to see how physically fit everyone was. Halfway to the finish line, Connie had already given up as he was slowing down. Sasha wasn't far from him; she was beginning to slow down too. Marco had a lot of stamina, but he couldn't keep up with the speed of his other two classmates.

"Wow, I didn't how fast Eren was," said Christa to a couple girls.

"Yeah, but it seems like Mikasa is catching up," said another girl.

Mikasa wasn't surprised, she was aware of how much Eren jogged during a week and how he did these kinds of things with Clovis. But she hoped that Eren hadn't forgotten about her morning jogs as well.

"Mikasa actually caught up," said one of the boys.

"Go, Mikasa!" said Jean.

Meanwhile, a couple of upperclassmen passed by, seeing the race unfold before them. "Oh, check that out. Those two are pretty fast."

It really wasn't meant to be competition, but Eren still didn't want to lose to her. He would never hear the end of it if she beat him now. As he accelerated, the two were neck and neck, and when they crossed the finish line, it stayed that way.

"No one could tell who won," said one of the boys as a group of students approached the two racers. Sasha, Connie, and Marco finished afterwards as they were catching their breath.

"No way, Mikasa won that," said Jean.

"I don't know about that," said one of the girls.

Eren looked at Mikasa as the two eased their breathing, "I guess it was a tie, right?"

"Yeah, it was a tie," said Mikasa. The two exchanged a laugh, as the group of students began dispersing; preparing for the next lap.

"Eren, Mikasa, you two should get some water," said Christa, "Come on it's over here."

"Right, come on Mikasa."

"Go on, I'll catch up in a bit."

Once again, she saw the two of them walking side by side, and when she saw Christa touching Eren's arm, she stopped breathing. "Eren…"

"What about me? I need water, I'm dying over here," said Connie crawling on the floor. Marco was calmly attempting to pick him back up, while Sasha was trying her best to walk elegantly toward the water fountain.

Jean approached Mikasa slowly, "The others might not believe it, but I know you came in first. Good job, Mikasa."

"Oh, thank you Jean."

"You should get some water." Mikasa nodded as she made her way to the fountain.

Mike whistled for the next group of students to run, "Next!"

As the gym class went on, the two upperclassmen were satisfied with the results.

"Looks like we found some help, Bertolt"

"I don't know, speed is not the only skill you need, Reiner."

"It's fine, we'll have plenty of time to train them."

* * *

**Hope you liked it! Leave a review to tell me what you think, cya guys later!**


	14. Old Memories

**Here's another chapter, enjoy!**

* * *

Old Memories

"Oh there you are Eren," said Christa as she approached him. Eren was standing next to Mikasa patiently. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah," said Eren, as he turned toward Mikasa, "I'll see you tomorrow." She nodded as he walked towards the faculty room with Christa, who gave a second glance at the raven-haired girl.

As Mikasa began walking towards the school exit, she spoke to herself, "I guess I'll just ask Eren tomorrow." She was still planning to uncover details on Christa, but right now, there was another matter for her to deal with. Levi would be giving some last orders to Eren and Christa, and after that, he would most likely be heading home. So, she waited just outside the front entrance, and began preparing what she would say to him. It's not that there wasn't anything to say, there was plenty they needed to talk about, but the question was what would be first. And there was also the matter of whether she should punch him first.

Meanwhile, Levi gave the two class reps their final orders. "Fill out these papers and show them to the class representatives meeting." Christa grabbed the papers and gave half of them to Eren. "You two might also want to start organizing yourselves to handle future problems. For example, you can split an issue or work on them together. Solve any problem the way you two want to."

"You have that much faith in us, Levi Sensei?" said Eren.

"It's not really faith. I just don't want to deal with trivial things. The majority of issues in our homeroom class can be solved without my help."

"I'm kind of nervous now, that's a little bit more pressure," said Chirsta.

Levi nodded, "It's not the workload that'll kill you; its the responsibility of it all. Well, you two can't quit now. I'll see you tomorrow in class." Levi grabbed his belongings and headed out the faculty room. It was obvious to see that he was anxious to leave.

"I guess we should work on these now and get it over with," said Eren, as he led Christa towards their homeroom class. "It doesn't seem like it a lot."

"Yeah, lets try to finish these as fast as we can. I know you must have other plans," said Christa smiling.

Eren chuckled, "If you call lying in front of TV a plan, then yeah." Arriving at the room, he opened the door and allowed Christa to go in first.

"Hm…" As Christa sat down on a nearby chair, she started thinking about the raven-haired girl. "What about Mikasa?"

Eren slowly moved a chair toward Christa's desk. He sat across from her as he wondered why she would bring up Mikasa. "What do you mean?"

"You two seem close." Christa began writing on the papers in front of her.

Eren also began writing as he rustled his hair. "Well, we have been through some things together, so you can say that." He set aside a completed form; he was glad to see that this wasn't going to take long. "But, why would you think I would have plans with Mikasa?"

"She's your girlfriend, isn't she?"

"WHAT!" Eren dropped his pencil, almost leaping out of his seat.

At the same time, Levi was making his way towards the school exit; pondering how he would give the wallet back to the delinquents. "Rubeus High School, I should probably scout it first," he said. As he walked out the gate, a soft voice got his attention.

"L-Levi…" Mikasa stood in front of him and just as he was about to reply, she lunged at him; her first was rapidly approaching his face. But he evaded it and grabbed her right wrist in the process.

"What do you think you're doing brat," said Levi. Struggling to get free, she shifted her left leg as she prepared to strike him. Levi, noticing this, released her just in time. He yelled, "Hey, that's enough!"

Mikasa gathered herself for the moment. She had decided to just talk to him at first, but seeing his face pissed her off intensely. She motioned her right leg to strike once again, but she was caught off guard when Levi swiftly closed in on her. He cocked his fist; she prepared to counter until she realized it was a feint. A second later, she was falling backwards where her back slammed to the ground; Levi had swiped her legs from under her.

"O-Ow…" Mikasa slowly sat up.

"Have you cooled off?" Levi offered his hand to her, but she refused. "I don't know what your deal is, but you need to respect your elders brat."

"Shut up, just let me hit you," she said as she stood up.

"Why? I'm not just going to let one of my students hit me for no reason."

She glared at him, "Tell me, who am I?"

Levi was unsure what this girl wanted, so he played along for now, "Mikasa Ackerman. You're a student in my homeroom and literature class."

"Is that all?"

"For now, I suppose so. I'm still trying to piece together what kind of students you are."

"Eh, what are you talking about?"

"I can't let that crazy four-eyes mock me for not remembering who my students are. But to think one of them would actually hate me already. Man, she's going to have a field day."

"Levi…you don't really remember me, do you." Mikasa began tightening her fist.

"I'm not sure what else to tell you. So if you'll excuse me—" Levi stopped speaking as he saw Mikasa grinding her teeth; a sudden dark aura encompassed her.

She lunged at him once again, "You bastard!"

Meanwhile, back inside the school building, Eren was having trouble keeping his composure.

"GIRLFRIEND! No no no no no no, that's wrong. She's not my girlfriend…I mean we are close, but we're just friends right now, ha ha ha," said Eren holding an intense blush.

Christa was taken aback by the sudden response, "I-I see…a simple 'no' would have been fine, Eren."

Eren avoided her gaze as he tried to return to his work, "S-Sorry."

"It's okay." Christa smiled brightly at the realization.

Now that she brought it up, Eren had to ask, "D-Do we really look like that towards others."

Christa's smile faded, "Um, kind of."

"I see," said Eren smiling. As Christa gazed at him, old memories were resurfing.

"_Eren, I had fun today! Let's play again tomorrow."_

"_Yep, we'll play tomorrow for sure!"_

_Christa marveled at his smile, "You have a warm smile, Eren."_

"_Eh really?"_

"_Hey, Eren…" She twiddled her fingers, "will you be my friend forever?"_

"_Of course!"_

"Christa…Hey, Christa," said Eren as he snapped the girl out of her flashback. "Are you okay?"

"Eh…uh, yeah, sorry. Let's get back to work." The two resumed their work, almost finished with the forms in front of them.

Mikasa took a quick breather; none of her attacks so far were landing. Once she collected herself, she prepared for another strike.

"You don't give up, huh?" Levi sighed, "Before you attack me again, just tell me why."

"Be quiet!"

"Will you tell me if I let you hit me once?" Mikasa stayed silent, her face, though, spoke loudly. "Alright then, go for it."

She was so ready to hit this guy in the face, but a part of her told her not yet. The first thing he needed to do was remember. "Why…why did you abandon me," she said.

Levi was confused, "'Excuse me?"

"Just by not remembering, you're already pissing me off."

"Like I said, I have no idea what you're talking about. You must have confused me with someone el—"

"It was you! How do you not remember?" Her glare felt like it was going through him, "It's because of you that I became so terrible. I trusted you..." Mikasa was at a point beyond anger, a point where she just wanted everything to disappear. "I needed your help, and when I was looking for you…you were gone." Her words began trembling, "Why couldn't you have left me alone? Why did you have to stick your nose in where it didn't belong."

Levi kept his unmoving gaze; every second that had passed watching her, was giving him his memories back. "Wait a second…are you the girl from Serus?

Mikasa still gave him a nasty look, "You're starting to remember."

"Ah, now I see…Mikasa Ackerman. The girl known as the "Raven Warrior." Cute name, if I remember that correctly."

"Shut up, I didn't get that name until you arrived."

Levi huffed, "Well, this is interesting. I definitely wasn't expecting this. But to see you here, it seems like you're doing alright now."

"I'm not doing alright!" Mikasa was ready to attack him again; she was sensing that he was acting a bit senseless.

"You're not? Are you still dealing with them now?"

"N-No, but back then I had too by myself; and in the end, everyone avoided me...even her. It's your fault that she hated me."

"You can blame me if you want, but as of right now, you're not living there anymore. Are you going to continue to stay in the past? Do you not want to make any new friends?"

"I…" Eren was the first image that came to her mind when he said that. Shiganshina was nothing like her old home; this place was her second chance, and Eren was guiding her to a new life. Still, she knows that one wrong move and it would be like Serus all over again. If he were to ever know what she once was, she would lose her first friend in her new life. "I'm a horrible person," she said holding her arms, as her eyes grew watery.

Meanwhile, the two class reps had finished as Christa was collecting the forms for the both of them. "I'll hold on to these," she said.

"Are you sure?"

Christa nodded, "It's fine. I'm the kind of person who starts worrying about these kinds of things. It's just easier if I deal with it."

"That's a lot of responsibility. You were the right choice for this job."

"Hey, I couldn't have done this without you. Between you and me, you're a much better class rep."

"Eh, really? I'm not sure about that," he said bashfully, "I mean we just started. You can definitely become better than me."

"No, its true." Christa stood up, and drifted towards the window. "You're kind, strong-willed, and you have the potential to be great leader. You're what everyone needs." Christa held the papers tightly. "Everything about you is amazing."

Eren wasn't expecting such praise, it was embarrassing to him, but it still made him feel happy to hear it. "Thank you, Christa."

Christa blushed, "You're welcome."

"I'll let you hold on to them then." Eren grabbed his backpack as he headed towards the exit.

Christa followed him and couldn't help but confirm, "So…you and Mikasa are just friends?"

A slight blush rose from his cheeks; he was hoping that Christa wouldn't bring up that misunderstanding again, "Y-Yeah."

"She must be a nice person if you consider her your friend. She probably trusts you a lot."

"I'm still wondering about that."

She faced him, "What do you mean?"

"Well, we had a rough start when I tried asking her for her phone number. She ended up giving me a fake one," he said shyly.

Christa stumbled her words, "W-Why would you ask her for her number?"

"Oh, cause we're neighbors and our parents asked us too—" Eren stopped talking as he suddenly realized that what he had just said.

"YOU'RE NEIGHBORS? Like next door to each other or across the street?" Christa began hounding him at the sudden information.

Mikasa is going to kill me, he thought to himself. "Next door to each other, but you can't tell anyone Christa," he said.

"Eren," Christa was organizing her thoughts, "are you sure it's a good idea that a classmate is your next door neighbor?"

"Eh, what do you mean?"

"Well, what if Mikasa…what if she's secretly spying on you."

The thought of Mikasa in a camouflage uniform with binoculars gave Eren a quizzical look. "Why would she be spying on me?"

"Haven't you seen those TV shows where those perverts do crazy things just to take peek?"

"Isn't it mostly the guy that does that?"

"Eh, oh, you're right. But still! You need to be careful…I mean I know she's you friend, but can you trust her? You don't want another situation like Clovis, right?"

Clovis. Christa had a point; during the whole the time Eren knew Mikasa, he had never once suspected her of being a bad person. Even so, how could he ever see her as someone with ill intentions? She was incredibly beautiful in his eyes, and she was by his side when he confronted Clovis. She actually followed him to Caeruleum, and she considered him a true friend. "I guess…I can trust her. It seems kind of odd, but I just feel like I can. I don't believe she is a bad person."

"Eren…" Christa had difficulty accepting that, but for now she would. She would just have to confront Mikasa about this tomorrow. She persuaded herself that if she didn't do anything, Eren would get hurt again, and that's something she couldn't let happen.

As Eren and Christa exited the school building and headed toward the front gate, they saw Mikasa and Levi.

"Mikasa? Levi Sensei?" said Eren.

"Eren…" said Mikasa.

"Did you two finish the forms? If not, you could just do them at home," said Levi.

"Um, we decided to work on them as soon as you gave it to us. We finished them already," said Christa.

"I see, well then, goodbye."

As Eren hastily approached Mikasa, he noticed that state of her clothes. There were smudges and dirt stains in random places. It was odd to see it, but what really shocked him was seeing her face. Her eyes were watery, her nose was red, and her cheeks were puffy. He had never seen her like this; his chest was hurting. There was something wrong here as he said, "Hold on a second, what's happened? Mikasa…"

"It's okay Eren. I was just talking with Levi Sensei about our homework for Literature class," said Mikasa as she wiped some dust off her.

Eren ignored her statement momentarily, "Levi Sensei, did something happen?"

"Not really, you don't have to worry about it," said Levi.

"Eren, I said its okay, please don't make this a big deal," said Mikasa

"Big deal?" It was a big deal to him, because seeing Mikasa like that pained him.

"Please, let it go." She pressured him to stop as Eren reluctantly obeyed.

"Well, I'll be off then," said Levi walking away.

"I guess I'll be off too," said Christa feeling out of place. She glanced at Mikasa intently as she said, "I'll see you tomorrow Eren, Mikasa."

As Christa left, Eren looked back at Mikasa; she was picking up her belongings. "Let's go home, Mikasa." She nodded in response.

The two teenagers were silent on the walk home; only the sounds in the background were heard. Eren wanted to talk about what happened. Why was Levi there, and why was Mikasa on the verge of tears. He really wanted to know, especially if there was something he could do, but he knows that Mikasa would get upset if asked anymore. Still, if she wouldn't say anything, he would eventually blurt it out.

"Eren," she said.

A sigh of relief escaped his mouth, "What?"

"You never finished telling me about Christa," said Mikasa.

"Eh, you still want to know?" He remembered that they were discussing this during PE, and also remembered how it seemed like she was jealous when she aske. But Eren shook that presumption off instantly; there was no way she was.

"Yes, unless you don't want to."

"No, it's fine…" Eren pondered for a moment, deciding where to start. "We used to hang out a lot when we were kids."

"Was this with Clovis? I'm only assuming, because you met Clovis as a kid too."

"No, I met Christa first. When Clovis came along, me and Christa were no longer friends."

"What happened?"

"Just some stupid things." A feeling of gloom reigned over him, "I'm sorry, I guess I'm not fine talking about everything."

Mikasa sensed that that was the case. "It's fine Eren, but can I ask one more thing?"

"What is it?"

"Do you like Christa?" Mikasa clutched her backpack strap.

Eren pondered for a moment at the question, and when he figured out to say he said, "I don't hate her, it was just difficult at first to see her again."

"What about now?"

"Now…" Eren paused for a moment again, "she's okay. I mean, the more I talk with her, the more those old feelings return. Those feelings we shared before we stopped becoming friends."

Mikasa twiddled her fingers, "So, are you friends now?"

Eren stopped walking causing Mikasa to look back at him. "You know…I think so. What happened in the past shouldn't matter anymore, right?"

The question caused controversy in Mikasa's mind. The past shouldn't matter anymore, right? "I see…you think so, Eren?"

"Yeah, I believe so. I mean obviously there are things you should keep, and the memories you don't want to, should be let go of." Eren resumed walking with Mikasa next to him.

Sensing that Eren was feeling more comfortable, Mikasa wanted to know more, "How did you two meet?"

"Mikasa, you said only one thing."

"Oh, sorry…just one more."

As Eren started remembering where he met her, a sudden realization caused him to smile. Mikasa noticed and grew curious, "Eren?"

"Do you know the small park close to our houses?"

"Mm…oh, yes. What about it?"

"That's where I met her."

Seeing his smile gave Mikasa an assumption of how fond a memory it must have been for him. "I see…it was really that special huh?"

"Yeah, I mean, its kind of funny too."

Eren's chuckling prompted Mikasa to ask, "What's so funny about it?"

"Because I just realized…that's also where I met you for the first time." Mikasa had forgotten; though they didn't exchange words at first, they made eye contact briefly before she ran off, suspecting him of being a weirdo. Eren stopped in front of her with a wide smile, "What are the odds of that? By the way…" She noticed him looking away, "what did you think of me when you saw me?"

"Oh, um…" Mikasa also looked away out of embarrassment, "I thought you were strange."

Her words pierced Eren's pride as he said, "R-Really? I figured."

"Now that I think about," she suddenly said, "why were you just staring at me back then?"

"I wasn't staring at you," Eren grew red, "My eyes just drifted in your direction, and all of a sudden, we made eye-contact."

"Is that so? You stared at me for quiet a while though."

Eren walked ahead of Mikasa. "You're exaggerating," he said in a huff. It was too bad that he was in front of her, because he missed the gentle smile appearing from her face.

It was no longer silent between them, as they inched closer to home.

"How's everything with Sasha?" said Eren.

"Sasha?"

"She's your friend isn't she?"

"I-I'm not sure." As smart as Mikasa was, she could never figure out other people.

"Come on, its clear that she wants to be your friend. Why don't you exchange your numbers or something."

"But I don't think—"

"She's not a bad person. Well, probably not normal, but definitely not bad."

"Speaking of, there is something that is odd about her. It seems like she's lying about who she is." Mikasa had recollected her conversations with Sasha. Every now and then, she would unnecessarily present herself as a gentle lady figure. The only time she would correct herself was when she behaved differently around the topic of food.

"Hm, yeah it seems like that. Still, if you're not going to be her friend, you should let her know; otherwise, you're just going to hurt her even more."

"I suppose you're right."

"And one more thing, if you do exchange phone numbers, don't giver her a fake one."

Mikasa avoided his eyes; a little embarrassed at their past confrontation. "I'll say something tomorrow."

The next day during lunch, Mikasa was searching for Sasha. Hange had asked Mikasa to carry some supplies to the office, and now she couldn't find her. She should've been at the lunch area, but Eren said she went to the bathroom. When she went to the bathroom, her classmates said she left minutes ago. This girl is troublesome, she thought as she stopped to look around.

Suddenly, Christa approached her from behind, "Mikasa, can I speak to you for a moment?"

Mikasa had to consider herself fortunate, because she had been meaning to speak with Christa too. Seeing that there was still time before the next class started, and that she wasn't going to spot Sasha anytime soon, Mikasa agreed to her proposal. They decided that the rooftop would be private enough for them to have their conversation.

Reaching the rooftop, Mikasa stood patiently as Christa faced away from her. "Please forgive me for asking, but I want you tell me what you're plan is with Eren."

Mikasa was surprised; she had wanted to say those words to her, and now she was curious to know why Christa would say that. "Eh? What are you talking about?"

Christa turned around slowly; a darker expression covered her face, "Please don't lie to me. All I want to know is what your intentions are with Eren."

"Like I said, I don't understand what you're saying." Why was this girl attacking her all of a sudden?

Christa gazed down at her toes, "I see, you're really not going to say anything. Then let me just say that Eren isn't someone you can take advantage of. If he gets hurt…I-I'll never forgive you. Even if you are my classmate."

Mikasa was astonished by the sudden presumptions this girl was making. It infuriated her that Christa was the one accusing her of being someone who can hurt Eren. It should be the other way around, she thought.

Christa walked toward the exit stiffly, but was suddenly stopped by Mikasa when she grabbed her shoulder. "Wait a minute, that's my line."

"Huh? What are you saying?" said Christa.

"I should be the one asking you want you plan to do with Eren."

It was Christa's turn to be confused; "Now I'm the one who doesn't understand."

"Eren is my close friend," said Mikasa, "He gave me a chance to have an amazing school life. He has been very kind to me. Sure we have our arguments and I even pushed him away at first, but we became closer because of that."

To Christa, it felt like Mikasa was trying to boast in front of her, "W-What are you—Are you trying to say that you two are inseparable?"

"E-Eh? N-No!" Mikasa blushed as she said, "But I think I understand what's best for Eren."

Christa's emotions were beginning take over as she was losing her character by what Mikasa was saying, "I…I've known him longer than you have, so if you really believe that you know more about him than me...Then, then…" Christa glared at Mikasa, "you're wrong!"

Mikasa was at disbelief, "I'm wrong?"

"Yes…He came to me first when no one else did. We became best friends and whenever I felt alone, he was there for me." Christa motioned away from Mikasa once again; a feeling of guilt suddenly encompassed her, "Then again…I suppose deep down he doesn't see me as a friend anymore. He must really hate me for what happened back then. But even if he doesn't see me as a friend, I want to be able to protect him."

It was strange. Deep down, Mikasa had wanted the same thing. She wanted to protect Eren, and though he doesn't know it, she wanted to repay him for giving her a second chance. "You're wrong."

"Eh?" Christa returned her gaze at Mikasa.

"Yes," Mikasa remembered what Eren had said, "he doesn't hate you…he thinks of you as a friend now."

Christa was in disbelief, "That's not true…he still doesn't see me that way."

"He does…he told me recently that he doesn't care about the past anymore. He truly thinks of you as a friend."

"Really? He said that?"

Mikasa nodded, "If you don't mind, can you tell me what happened between you two?"

Christa gathered herself, "He probably blames himself, but its just as much my fault as it is his." Mikasa listened closely. "During elementary school, we were always together. So much so, that some of our classmates were starting to get annoyed by us. I don't know the full story, because Eren never told me, but eventually all the boys and girls in our class picked on us. There were always bruises on his face, and I was always being made fun of."

"Didn't you tell an adult?" Mikasa didn't like the image of seeing Eren bruised or seeing Christa being laughed at.

"Eren never wanted too, but I told someone. Still, nothing changed, it just got worse." Mikasa stood quietly, as she continued, "It all ended when Eren stopped talking to me. I wanted to ask why, but he had already shut me out of his life. I can only assume that he did it, because he was tired of it all." Christa took a deep breath, "That's when Clovis arrived…oh, I'm sorry you don't know Clovis."

"N-No, I know him. Me and Eren had a run in with him a while back."

"Really?" Christa was shocked to hear it, "Did anything happen?"

Mikasa decided that telling Christa about the two boy's "reunion" was not a good idea for now. "Just some talking."

"I see…still, now do you understand why I'm having trouble seeing you constantly surrounding him?"

"I'm not around him constantly…"

"Of course you are, the two of you are neighbors so you walk to and from school everyday I'm assuming."

"WHAT? How do you know we're neighbors?"

"Eren told me."

That idiot, thought Mikasa.

"I'm still not sure what kind of person you are, so I'm sorry if I'm wrong, but I just don't want Eren to get hurt.

A breeze of wind flowed through Mikasa's hair; Christa was right not to trust Mikasa, especially since Eren doesn't even now how she was in Serus. "I understand Christa, but you have to know…I too wanted to protect Eren."

Christa didn't say anything as she left, leaving Mikasa to think to herself. After her conversation with Christa and confrontation with Levi, Mikasa was starting to wonder if it was good idea to be around Eren. The two were neighbors so there was no helping if they walked to and from school. But other than that, they could easily avoid each other at school. The thought of separating herself from Eren unsettled her.

"Um...Mikasa?" Sasha had arrived holding her lunch bag.

"Sasha, what are you doing here?"

"I was looking for you…is something wrong?"

"N-No, nothing's wrong."

"Okay…hey, I know this might sound sudden, but do you want to hang out this weekend?"

"Hang out?"

"Oh, its okay if you don't want too…I mean we're just acquaintances right?"

Mikasa pondered for a moment and figured that Eren would want her to do this, but even more so, this was something she wanted to do. "I don't mind."

"Eh? Really!"

"Yes," she said smiling.

"Great! I'll text you then…um, can you give me your phone number?"

When she gave her the number, a ping sound resonated from her phone. It was her first text from Sasha.

Sasha: Let's have fun this weekend! :)

Mikasa smiled as she replied.

Mikasa: I'm looking forward to it.

* * *

**Leave a review, and check out my profile for updates and vote on my first poll if you want continuations on any of my other stories. See ya guys later!**


	15. No Worries

**Its been a while, huh? Enjoy :)**

* * *

No Worries

"So, is this one good? Or perhaps this one will be more efficient? I like yours but I want to stuff as much as I can in there," said Sasha.

"Um, I suppose the second one is fine," said Mikasa, still trying to figure out what was going on.

Sasha held the item up, "I knew it! This bento is perfect! Thanks, Mikasa. Well, I guess we can go home now."

As Sasha was making her way towards the cash register, Mikasa halted her, "Is that all you wanted to do? You just wanted to pick out a bento?"

"Yep…I mean yes," said Sasha as returned to he pay for her bento. Mikasa stood speechless. It wasn't the experience that Mikasa was expecting, but then again, she wasn't really sure what the two would be doing together anyways. Neither of them knew what the other liked or disliked, and Mikasa was still surprised that Sasha asked her to come with her to get a bento. Would this even count as "hanging out," thought Mikasa.

"Sasha, why did you ask me to come with you?" Mikasa asked as the two exited the store.

"Well, I wasn't sure where you would buy one of these."

"But I could've just told you, and then you could have gone with your mother."

"Absolutely not! My mother…" Sasha went silent. There was definitely something Sasha was hiding, and Mikasa figured that this was a better chance than any to start prying. It would be nice to make this "hang out" last longer. If anything, she would learn more about this crazy girl, and maybe become her friend. Boy wouldn't Eren like that.

Mikasa stood in front of her, not moving an inch, "I'm sorry if this comes out too strong, but there is something about you that is bothering me."

Sasha stopped by the sudden confrontation, "W-What do you mean, Mikasa?"

"Well, sometimes you start acting like a maiden whenever you lose character around food," stated Mikasa bluntly. "It's almost like you are pretending who you are."

The sudden remark took Sasha by surprise, "That's not true! I-I always act normally…especially around food. I mean, how weird would I have to be if that were the case. I am a normal girl on the verge of becoming a respectable lady, and something like that would be unacceptable." Sasha sighed as she grew arrogant, "Dear Mikasa, I'm afraid you are starting to see things that…"

"Oh look, there is a half-off sale on steak. Prime rib and clean cut."

Sasha immediately turned her head, as her eyes became animated in searching for said sale. "Where! Where! Mikasa we have to hurry."

Mikasa grabbed Sasha's head so that they were facing each other, "Sasha, I was lying."

With the sudden realization, Sasha's face grew redder as she yelled at Mikasa, "That's mean Mikasa! Why would lie about something like that?"

Mikasa retorted, "I'm not the only one lying here." Sasha brought her head down in disappointment. "Is there something you want to tell me?"

Sasha held her bag tightly, "You're right, Mikasa…I haven't really been honest."

"Does it have something to do with your mother?"

"Eh, how did you know?"

"I sort of picked up on it," Mikasa was always keen to these kinds of things.

Sasha was hesitant to speak at first, but ultimately gained the courage to talk about it. "Well, yes, my mother is very controlling. She has been forcing me to act more like a lady ever since she came to my life."

"Came to your life? Is she…"

"Technically, she is my step-mother, but I've sort of gotten used to just calling her mother, because she hates it when I call her step-mom."

"I see," Mikasa was starting to see Sasha in a whole new light. Maybe her weirdness isn't her fault. "So, she is the reason why you go crazy around food. You can't take the stress, huh?"

"Actually no, that's how I've always been." Ah never mind, thought Mikasa as Sasha continued, "It's just frustrating to deal with her on a daily basis."

"Can't you just be who you are when you're at school? You don't have to act like a noble lady there."

"My mother says that she knows someone at the school that is watching me…you see, very controlling."

Regardless of how Sasha acted around food, Mikasa was sure that the girl in front of her was real, and that she was struggling with things on her own, just like she was. If anything, that was the one thing they both had in common.

"But you know," said Sasha as she faced towards a nearby bridge; the sun was already beginning to set. The view had Mikasa realize how late they started "hanging out," Sasha probably had to lie her way out of the house. "I'm happy that I finally told someone about this, I'm kind of relieved heh."

_"She's not a bad person. Well, probably not normal, but definitely not bad."_

"Oh Eren," said Mikasa softly as a small smile broke out.

"You say something Mikasa?"

"Nothing…Sasha, I need to talk to you about something."

"What is it?"

"I would like it if…I mean, do you want to be…friends?"

"Eh, not acquaintances anymore? You mean real friends? Like…BEST FRIENDS?!"

"I think we should start off as normal frien—Whoa!" Sasha had leaped on Mikasa, hugging her arm in the process.

"This will be great! We can do so many things together! You can teach me how to cook. Yeah, lets do that right now!"

"Won't your mother be angry?"

"No worries, I told her that I was going to buy dresses. She knows how long that will take. Hey, lets go to this ice cream shop first before you teach me how to cook."

As Sasha was forcefully pulling Mikasa, she was happy to have another friend by her side.

* * *

The "hang out" had finally ended; Mikasa moved sluggishly across her living room and towards her bedroom.

"Oh Mikasa you're back, did you have fun with your friend?"

"Fun is putting it mildly, mom. I'm going to be in my room."

"You're not hungry? I have leftovers."

Mikasa had almost thrown up at the comment, "N-No thank you, I've already had my fill." Though Mikasa was unable to teach Sasha how to cook, Sasha still found ways to get more and more food.

As Mikasa lay on her bed, her cell phone began vibrating. Lazily, she took a glimpse at the screen and saw Eren's name in the front. She slowly sat up and began reading his text.

Eren: How was your play date with Sasha?

Mikasa started telling him about today's event and what Sasha had told her.

Eren: So I guess you were right, but it sounds like she didn't care since she was able to be your official friend. Good job, Mikasa

Mikasa blushed.

Mikasa: You make it sound like it's a chore.

Eren: It kind of is, isn't it? I mean it wasn't easy for me.

Mikasa: You're exaggerating. All you had to do was come up to me and say 'hey lets be friends' I would have said yes.

Eren: Hmmm Idk about that.

"I really would have," mumbled Mikasa.

Eren: Hey, I'm going to head to the store. You want to come along?

Mikasa looked at the time, and though it was late, she decided to tag along. It would be a good idea to walk off the extra pounds.

Mikasa: Yeah I'll go…I'll meet you out front in a few.

"I'll be back mom, I'm going to the store with Eren."

"You're going out again? Its already late…"

"It's not that late." Mikasa was already out the door before her mom could respond.

Stepping outside, she saw Eren with his red hood on; a visible cloud of air escaped his mouth as he said, "Yo, getting chilly huh?"

Mikasa nodded as the two began walking towards the store.

"I wonder if Jean will be there," said Eren.

"Why do you ask?"

"Well you don't want a classmate of ours to know that we are neighbors, do you?"

"Just because we are going together doesn't mean we are neighbors, it'll be okay."

"So you say. Anyways, if he is there, he might give me a discount."

"I highly doubt that."

"Yeah, never mind. You know, when I heard that he started working there, I was really hoping he would give me a friend's discount or something."

Mikasa chuckled, "Wishful thinking, Eren."

As the two began seeing the lights to the store, a familiar surrounding caught Mikasa's eye. She stopped as her mind began replaying images when she first arrived to Shiganshina. It wasn't until Eren noticed that she came back to reality. "Mikasa, whats up?"

"Sorry, it's just the park…where we met…and where you met Christa." Mikasa looked down as she pulled her arms closer to her sides, it really was getting colder.

Eren approached her and stared at the park as well, "Oh yeah, I remember how you were looking at the sky…you were wearing a red scarf, kind of hard to miss that." As he looked back at her, he noticed that she was kind of chilly.

"Yeah, I should've brought the scarf," she said. Watching her in this state, he couldn't ignore the fact that the girl next to him was beginning to shiver; his mother taught him better. He began to unzip his sweater and cautiously covered her shoulders with.

"E-Eren? What are you doing, its cold," she said as she faced him.

"It's fine, the store is right there."

"But you'll catch a cold."

"If you're really worried then lets hurry up and get inside," he said as he motioned towards the light of the convenience store, where it illuminated his flushed face. Mikasa followed as she inserted her arms through the sleeve; the cold was no longer an issue, and she believed it was not just the sweater that did made her face warm.

Inside, Jean greeted the new customers, "Hello—Ah dang it. It's just you Jaeger."

"Kirchstein, still working this late? Your future wife won't like that," said Eren as he snickered.

Jean smiled, "Heh, I'm sure my future wife won't mind. I can already see it, brunette with a serious look…course there is already someone who fits that descripti…MIKASA!" Jean immediately silenced himself.

"Hey, Jean," she said as she made her way to the magazine section.

"H-Hey Mikasa….Eren!" Jean grabbed Eren as he whispered, "Why is she with you?"

"We were both going the same direction, so we just walked together here."

"I see…does that mean she lives around here?"

"Probably," said Eren as he shrugged.

"Nice, I'm going to like coming to work even more now."

"Whatever, can you let go so I can get something?"

Jean released Eren as he made his way to the snack section.

"Hm, another incident near Rubeus High School," mumbled Mikasa.

"What you reading?" Eren was picking out his favorite snack.

"Did you know that incidents like this have been going on near Rubeus?" Mikasa shoved the article in front of Eren's face. The title had read "Student Harassment near School of Red," and a picture of the delinquents was shown alongside the police. Eren scanned the piece for a few seconds before returning to his choice of snack.

"It's just a couple of jerks trying to be tough, it'll pass."

"But Eren…"

"And if it doesn't, I wouldn't mind heading down there myself." Eren had grabbed his snack of choice, a bag of chips, and headed towards the front of the store, while Mikasa followed with a disconcerting look.

"You're joking right? You shouldn't take these matters lightly, and the way you are now, you will definitely get hurt." Her hands retreated inside the sleeve of Eren's sweater, clutching it lightly.

Jean watched as Eren stopped to turn around and face Mikasa, "Hold on a sec…first of all, I as just joking. Second, you really think I'm that weak?" Eren eyebrow's scrunched together as his anger was beginning to show.

"Oh good…you were joking," she said as she sighed.

"Mikasa, don't change the subject!"

"I didn't say you were weak."

"You kind of did Mikasa," said Jean who quickly looked away when Eren growled at him.

Eren handed Jean the money for his snack and walked out the door in a huff, not even wanting his change.

"Excuse us," said Mikasa as she exited the store.

Jean waved in response, "Yeah, I'll see ya at school Mikasa."

Mikasa caught up with Eren, who was already half way done with his chips.

"Eren wait," she said as she zipped up Eren's sweater so that it would not fall off. Though he was not far, the cold made it a little more troublesome as the freezing air brushed past her face; she wished she had brought her scarf. "Don't be stubborn, Eren. I just said that because I was…" Mikasa slowed down a bit as she continued, "…worried."

When he had turned to face her, he saw that her cheeks and nose were red from the cold air. "There is nothing to worry about, I would be fine" he said, "you on the other hand look like Rudolph."

"Who's Rudolph?"

Eren had to double take at her question, "You know, the reindeer with the red nose…Santa asks for his help…it's a Christmas story." No matter how many times he explained, Mikasa was still confused at the comparison to the point where she didn't care anymore.

"Never heard of him…more importantly Eren," she said looking to go back to the topic at hand. "It's not just about being fine or not, you will get in serious trouble and you might end up getting expelled."

"Then I'll just be secret about it."

"EREN!"

"Enough, Mikasa. look the point is that I can handle those delinquents. You saw how I dealt with Clovis."

"That was completely different, and Clovis is not a delinquent," Mikasa pondered for a moment, "I believe he's a lot smarter than that." The words were sour as it left her mouth.

Eren didn't like the fact that Mikasa had complimented Clovis, but she did have a point. Clovis was a lot smarter than the delinquents in that article; of course, that just meant he was more dangerous.

"I suppose you're right," Eren sighed, "It doesn't matter anyways, none of this is happening near us." He had remembered what Marco and Jean went through, but believed that that was just a coincidence.

Looking to end the discussion, Eren approached Mikasa until he was only a few inches away; the close encounter surprised her. It wasn't long until Eren reached out behind her, causing her to close her eyes. Then, in one second, he pulled the hood of the sweater over her head until it covered her eyes.

"So stop worrying," he said as she was forced to stare at the ground beneath her. "Lets go home," he released the hood and motioned away from her.

Mikasa stood motionless for a moment until she raised her head slightly. Once she caught her breath, she followed behind Eren's footsteps. She did not want him to see her flushed face.

"By the way, Mikasa," he said as he continued walking, "what club are you going to join?"

Still hiding behind him and the hood, she questioned him, "Club? Do we have to join one?"

"Yeah, don't you remember Levi Sensei saying that?"

Honestly, she had not paid any attention to the short man. "Must have slipped my mind," she replied.

"Anyways, I was thinking of joining one of the sports club."

"Oh I didn't know you played any," it made sense that Eren would be interested in joining sports, because he was fast and he had a rough attitude.

"Yeah I was thinking that…until I realized that Levi was going to advise a club."

Mikasa almost lost her footing, "Eh, he will?"

"I'm pretty sure he is, after all, all the teachers advise a club. So, I'm going to find out which club that is at school and join it," he said smiling.

The thought of Eren being around that man was not a good idea. "I think you should stick with a sport."

"If I can't find out which club that is, then I will." Mikasa now had an objective. "So, what are you going to join?"

She really never thought about clubs nor did she even care. But since it was mandatory, and because Eren had asked her, she responded the only way she knew how, "I guess…I'll join the same club as you."

Eren didn't know why, but that kind of made him happy. But he would never show that as he responded, "You don't have to, and if I were to join a sport, you wouldn't be able to join either."

"Well you and Sasha are the only ones I know well, so there is not much I can do."

"Then this is a good chance to meet other people, I'm sure you'll make more friends like Sasha that way." Eren didn't want to push her way, but it was for the best.

"I'll think about it," she said, but Mikasa was determined to not let that happen.

As the two reached the front of their houses, Eren waved goodbye.

"Wait, Eren. Your sweater…" she said as she slowly unzipped the sweater.

"Its fine, keep it."

"But…"

"Trust me, its alright." Eren waved once again as he entered his house. Once the door was closed, he leaned back a bit; heart pumping loudly. "Oh man…that was close," he mumbled to himself. In truth, if he had gotten that sweater back, he would never be able to resist her scent. "I need to buy another sweater."

Mikasa closed the door of her room behind her, and as she lay on the bed, she realized how warm the red sweater was. She didn't know if this was weird or not, but what she did know, was that it was really easy to fall asleep in. And so it was, as her eyes closed after a long day.

* * *

Meanwhile, on the other side of Shiganshina, Levi approached a man sitting in front of a ramen stand.

"Yo, Levi," said the man wearing a pair of sunglasses.

"Farlan, cut to it. I need to grade some papers."

"Oh being a teacher is tough I see. I'll get right to it then. From what I gathered, it is definitely centered on Rubeus High School. The students you encountered were just pawns, and if this keeps going, the students at Caeruleum will be in danger."

"Gone for this long, and look what happens…so, who's in charge?"

"No name, sorry."

"Farlan," said Levi with an annoyed tone.

"Relax, I know that the president of Rubeus and the headmaster at Viridis have spoken recently. Though I don't think it was on good terms."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Because, Viridis is involved in this too." Levi was a little shocked to hear that, but a part of him was prepared for it. "That's all I have for now…if you want to know specifically who is pulling the strings, you'll have a better chance asking those students you beat up. I think they want their wallets back."

Levi stood up as he waved farewell to Farlan.

"Later Levi, oh and don't go too hard on the kids. The holidays are coming up after all." Levi set aside what Farlan had said, finding those delinquents was next.

* * *

**Go to my profile for updates. Thanks for reading, ill cya guys later :)**


	16. A December to Remember: Part 1

**Please enjoy the chapter, I hope you like, and leave a review!**

* * *

A December to Remember: Part 1

The month of December has always been the richest time of the year in both money and family. Everyone knows this and experiences this, but for those lucky ones, there is a third feature that exists as well. Eren and Mikasa will take part in this, in which they will finally know what the other is feeling.

Christmas is coming; Caeruleum students and faculty are taking in their last school day of the year. The freshmen of Levi's homeroom class are thankful that gym was their last class; nothing like messing around to make the last day so much sweeter.

"Pass it here Jean!" said Connie.

Two other classmates were guarding Jean as he said, "I'm kind of busy here."

"I got your back Jean!" yelled Marco as he charged and tackled the two defenders, eliciting groaning sounds from the two of them.

Jean, finally free, turned to Marco for a brief second, "We're playing soccer, Marco." As Jean started running, he could hear the faint cries of "Sorry, I've never played soccer before."

Jean kicked the ball to Connie, where he immediately lost it because his shoelaces were undone. As Connie fell to the ground head first, nobody noticed the ball skipping towards Eren.

"Shoot it, Eren," his teammates shouted.

He lined up the shot, and one second later, the sound of ball and nylon was heard throughout the field.

"Nice shot, Eren. I could've had it, but these shoes suck," said Connie.

As the rest of his teammates crowded Eren, Jean walked over as he said, "Eh, I'll give you that one Jaeger."

Eren played along, "Heh, thanks Kirchstein."

"Hey! You guys are celebrating too early!" The opposing team was already on the attack as everyone scattered.

As the boys continued to play their game, some of their other classmates decided to sit on the slope as they observed from afar.

"Eren is really good," said Sasha. "That's his third goal."

Mikasa nodded in agreement, keeping her eyes locked on said boy.

Christa, sitting behind the two of them, chimed in, "I'm not surprised, when it comes to physical activity, he always tries his hardest." Indeed he always does, thought Mikasa, he also has that stubbornness that goes along with it. Still, she can't deny that Eren was good at this. Eren had said that he was thinking of joining a sports club, maybe it was soccer?

As Mikasa looked on, her arms encircled her knees as her chin laid on her wrist, pondering about what Eren would be doing for Christmas. It's not something she thought about before, but in this moment, she was curious. Another thought came to her mind; she needed to return his sweater, which is currently at her locker. Every day she brought it to school since she received it that night. But for some reason, every time she tried to hand it to him, it would always be at a bad time. Whether it was Jean, Connie and Marco coming out of nowhere, or when Sasha would come yelling at her for something. The universe was cruel to her. The only person she accepted witnessing it, was Christa, and that's only because she already knows of their situation. And a part of Mikasa wanted Christa to see her hand the sweater back to Eren. The image made Mikasa smirk for a moment.

While Sasha was stretching her legs, she had remembered something as she turned towards the two girls, "Hey do you two have plans for Christmas?"

Christa responded, "Well, I was going to spend it with my family. What about you Mikasa?"

"I suppose I'll do the same," she said.

"I was wondering if you guys wanted to go to the festival that the Mayor of Shiganshina is hosting," said Sasha

"A festival?" said Mikasa.

"I heard about it from the bread shop owner. It's some kind of tradition here. I want to go, because she is going to serve her cupcakes to everyone."

Christa jumped up in glee as she said, "Yeah, they do it every year! The Mayor funds it every time." She glanced at the two of them, "Oh that's right, you two weren't living in Shiganshina last year."

"Unfortunately, I transferred late," said Mikasa,

"Dauper has its own traditions," smiled Sasha. "So when exactly is the festival?"

"It starts all day on Christmas Eve, and goes on till midnight," said Christa. "If you two really want to, I can leave my house for a bit and we can all go together."

"Well you know I'm already in. Mikasa?" said Sasha standing up as she glanced at the raven-haired girl.

Mikasa pondered to herself, "I don't know." Suddenly, cheers were heard on the field; Eren had scored another goal. Even though they were at some distance apart, she could see his vibrant smile. His ability to attract others was amazing, but no matter how many people were around him, she would always find him.

"Do you think we should invite the boys too?" said Christa. Mikasa blinked at the thought, spending Christmas Eve with everyone would be kind of fun. Once again her eyes locked on Eren.

"Sure! The more the merrier," said Sasha. "Well, Mikasa. Everyone is going. Come on it will be fun!"

After a few seconds, Mikasa responded. "…Okay."

Meanwhile, on the other side of the field, Reiner and Bertolt observed the game below.

"I'll talk to him…Eren, I think his name was," said Reiner.

"Hopefully, he hasn't joined any other clubs yet," said Bertolt.

"As long as it's not another sport, then we are fine."

"I know, I just think it's easier for students to focus on one club." Bertolt also examined the other players as he said, "We also need to ask the others, we need all the help we can get."

"I'm sure if Eren joins, the others will follow. At least I know one of them will…Look at him, he is a natural leader," said Reiner as he smirked.

At that moment, the bell rang signaling the end of class, and the beginning of winter break.

"I'll go invite them…I'll send you a text Sasha," said Christa. She glanced at Mikasa as if there was something else to say.

"Okay," said Sasha as she waved. When Christa was out of sight, Sasha turned towards Mikasa, asking her, "Why don't you and Christa exchange numbers?"

The two were not really at the level of friends, but they were getting there. At least that's what Mikasa thinks. After all, when her adoring fans are not surrounding Christa, she is always seen with Sasha and herself. Maybe exchanging phone numbers will help. "Yeah, I'll do that." The matter of when will be decided later.

Later on in the hallway, Christa approached the others. "Hey Eren, Jean, Connie, Marco."

"Oh Christa," said Eren, "What's up?"

"The Christmas Eve Festival is happening once again, and, well, I wanted to invite you guys to come with us," she said fidgeting with her fingers.

"And who is us?' said Connie.

"Well, Mikasa and Sasha so far…"

"Eh, Mikasa is going?" said Jean with eyes wide open.

"Yep, but it seems like she only accepted because all of you guys are going as well. I'm sure she wants to enjoy Christmas Eve with all of us. So you guys in?"

Jean was the first to shout out, "Of course!"

Connie and Marco also agreed. Following the flow of the others, Eren also accepted the invitation. In his entire life living in Shiganshina, he never once went to the festival, but if Mikasa was willing to go, he thought it wouldn't hurt.

"Wonderful! I'll let the others know…oh, here is my phone number. I'll text everyone the meet up spot. Enjoy your winter break!" she said as she waved.

"Nice! I got Christa's phone number," said Connie. "The rest of the guys in our class will be jealous." Speaking of which, Connie was already gloating at a couple of classmates passing by.

"This is going to be fun," said Marco, "I never celebrated Christmas before, so I'm happy to do it with you guys."

Jean placed his palm on Marco's back as he said, "Man, Ostia is tough."

"I-It really isn't though," replied Marco.

Noticing Mikasa at the front of the school, Eren excused himself from them, "Alright, I'll see you guys on Christmas Eve, later." Grabbing his backpack, he approached her as he called out her name.

She turned around, "Eren, going home?"

"Yep…so," Eren was already grabbing the back of his hair, "you chose to hang out with us on Christmas Eve?"

"Yeah…Sasha really wanted me to go." Just then, Mikasa opened her bag to reveal Eren's red sweater. "Here, I've been meaning to give this back to you." When she handed him the piece of fabric, she made sure that none of their classmates were around. Eren, meanwhile, was a little hesitant to take it back.

"Huh, I thought you were just going to keep it. I mean it was a while ago," he said.

She was embarrassed about keeping it for so long, it made her seem creepy, "I really was planning to give it to you early, but things got in the way."

Eren smiled as he tossed the sweater over his shoulder, "Thanks." A soothing scent got his attention, it almost made him want to wrap it around his face, "Oh, you washed it too."

"It's the least I could do."

"Well, whenever you need it again, I'll happily hand it over."

Mikasa replied with a stoic face, "I don't think so." There was no way she would want to hold on to something that will make her feel embarrassed.

"Ouch, okay never mind," he said as walked ahead.

"Oh! No, I didn't mean it like that Eren...Eren…Eren!" As she was trying to apologize, he laughed, clearly showing that he knew what she meant.

* * *

"So you found those boys again," said Erwin.

"Once I had them kneeling, they told me all they knew," said Levi. "They said someone at Viridis was paying them, and that the police would be lenient towards their actions."

"That explains why those students accused of harassment were giving a pass," said Erwin, he leaned back on his chair, "Why Rubeus?"

"Rubeus is more of a trade school, some of the students there are only interested in working so they can get paid. So, if someone offers them a side job, they would accept." Levi took out a cigarette pack from his back pocket as he continued, "Plus, there's more."

"More bad news?"

Levi blew out a puff of smoke, "I'm not sure if it's a coincidence, but those delinquents are part of the Crimson Brawlers gang."

"That is really bad news," said Erwin with a grim face, "This matter is escalating dangerously, it is no longer becoming just a school problem."

"And the articles will read 'Chaos in Shiganshina.' Whoever is in charge, doesn't care about this town, and they want to see this school shut down. And that will happen if those delinquents attack around our campus. Two of my students were already involved."

Erwin stood up, "I will speak to the Mayor. He is our only option for assistance, and if he says so, the others will follow."

"Not unless he is also being bribed. Face it Erwin, Caeruleum is surrounded, and all because of what this damn school is hiding," said Levi as he threw his cigar out the window.

Erwin smiled, "It might be hard for you to trust people, but I've known the Mayor since he was kid. Have faith Levi."

Levi sighed, "I have faith in you, Erwin. Just not the Mayor." Levi walked towards the door, "I'll speak with Dot Pixis in the meantime, that drunken bastard needs to know what his school is becoming,"

"You should take someone with you. How about you bring the gang back together for this one?" said Eren chuckling.

"If they don't have plans."

"I'm sure if you tell them, they'll say yes in an instant."

As Levi was about to leave, he needed to say one last thing to Erwin, "You know, if you really care about your students and colleagues here…you should abandon this school and let them take it."

Levi couldn't see it, but Erwin's face showed no emotion, "Sometimes, sacrifices are made."

* * *

It was finally Christmas Eve, and Eren was getting ready as he said goodbye to his parents and George. "Good boy, you stay here. Tomorrow we'll go jogging."

"Stay safe, Eren," said Carla. "And make sure you keep an eye on Mikasa, her parents would kill us if anything happened to her."

"Okay, I got it." Eren kneeled one last time to George as he whispered, "If you find those pills, don't eat it, just leave it in my room. Okay?" George barked in response, though Eren was unsure if he understood that. The last thing he wanted was to go through what happened last summer. There was nothing he found online about animals turning into humans, only stories, and whatever pills his father brought that day, has never been seen before. "Ah, whatever," he said. "Just…put some clothes on next time."

"Eren, what are you saying to George?" said Grisha.

"Don't worry about, I'll see you guys later!" Eren was off; he wanted to wait outside for Mikasa so that they could both leave together.

Mikasa quickly glanced at the mirror just to make sure there wasn't anything off. "Boots…check. Pants…check. Jacket…check. My scarf looks fine. Okay, time to go." As she noticed Luna sleeping by her table, she spoke to herself, "I'm kind of nervous for some reason." Luna responded with a yawn as the feline changed positions. "Thanks for the comfort."

After she got her phone, she bolted downstairs knowing that Eren was waiting outside. "Bye Mom, Dad," she said.

"Take care," her mom replied.

When Mikasa was gone, her dad said, "Are you sure its okay that we let her go with her classmates. I mean there is going to be boys there too."

"Oh stop worrying, Eren will be there as well."

"That's what I mean," he said with a serious face.

She giggled as she said, "Are you saying Eren and Mikasa could be a couple?"

The father blushed, "He is a good kid, I just don't think she is ready…or something…Ah whatever." He pouted as he sat back down.

"Well if they do, I wouldn't mind one bit."

Outside, the snow was beginning to fall on the white ground as Eren waited patiently. The sound of a door closing brought his eyes up, where it matched in line with hers. "You ready?" he said.

"Mm," she responded.

The two walked closely next to each other as they went to the festival. They were both looking forward to sharing this day with their friends, but secretly, they were happy to be with each other on Christmas Eve.


	17. A December to Remember: Part 2

**I hope you guys like it! Since, there was so much going on, I decided to make things into three parts. But for now, enjoy part two!**

* * *

A December to Remember: Part 2

Strings of bright lights were displayed from one light post to the next, illuminating a path that lead toward the center of Shiganshina. Among the many wanderers of town who were following it, two of them were silent, not uttering a single word since they had left their homes. It might have been the cold that kept their lips sealed, or the noises surrounding them that made it difficult to talk; but as they approached the center of town, the conversations of romantic couples were evident in their ears. This, however, only affected Eren as the mood was growing uncomfortable. Hoping to take his mind away from it, he spoke up, "HEY! Um…is this where we're supposed to meet the others?"

"No, not here," said Mikasa. She pointed towards a giant Christmas tree as she continued, "That is where everyone is supposed to meet up." It stood about 15 meters tall, completely overtaking the next tallest building. There were ornaments all around it, but the light bulbs were turned off. She moved her arm back down as she stood still, staring at the tree in front of her.

"Oh, okay. I'll text the others to let them know we are…" Eren noticed her expression, "What's wrong, Mikasa?"

"Why is it so dark? Why is the tree not lit up?" It bothered her. Everything else is illuminated, why is something so beautiful, left in the dark?

"They don't light up the tree until midnight. It's a tradition to keep it off until Christmas day, and they leave it on till New Years," he said.

She gazed at the tree once again, "I see…good." She fell silent again, as Eren fumbled with his hair. He did notice her change in expression, but what he failed to notice was her appearance. He had not said anything about how wonderful she looked. The ends of her jet-black hair teased the cloth of that familiar red scarf. It was the same scarf he saw that day, he was sure of it.

"Mikasa," he said trying to get her attention. When she faced him, he had forgotten what he wanted to say. He started to think he never had anything to say, and that he just wanted to see her face. He wanted to grab her attention. Then, he remembered about his talk with Connie and Jean. Maybe now was a good time for him to say it. The thing he was planning to tell her…

* * *

**Three days ago…**

"I've never heard of anything like that before. Have you, Connie?" said Eren.

"Yeah, no idea what you're talking about, Jean."

"Well, it's your loss."

The three boys were lying on the slope of the riverbank as Jean was going on and on about his discovery. Connie stretched his arms as he said, "I've never believed in those sort of things…'If you tell the person you like to stay with you forever under the Christmas tree, then that person will indeed be with you till the end of your days'…it sounds ridiculous, huh, Eren."

"It is ridiculous. If you like someone, you don't need a superstition to do it for you. I mean, if you really, truly love someone, then staying with them should be the easiest thing in the world." Eren stood up as the others followed him along the path.

Jean smirked as he said, "It's alright, when you guys find someone you like, you'll know what I'm talking about." He then proceeded to wrap his arms around their necks as he continued, "If not, you two can stay with each other forever."

The two boys shrugged him off as he laughed. "Jean is in his own world right now," smiled Connie.

Eren in annoyance responded, "Ah let him have it…by the way, there is someone you actually like more than money?"

Jean stopped his laughing as he responded, "I have been keeping it a secret, but I think I'll tell you guys who it is."

"Is it someone from our class?" said Connie.

"Hey, do you want me to tell you or not? And yes, it is."

Eren was curious now, "Really? Who is it?"

"Like I said, I'm getting to it…its M—"

Just then, Eren's phone rang. Jean stopped himself as Eren answered his call knowing who it is. "Hello, Mom? I'm still here…already? Okay, I'm on my way. Sorry guys, I have to run back. Apparently, my dad's friends have come over and he wants me to meet them."

"Ah okay. Well, we'll see ya on Christmas Eve with everyone else," said Connie.

"Yeah, I'll see you guys then," said Eren as he waved. As Eren was no longer within ear's reach, Connie was prompted to ask, "So, whose the girl?"

"Oh, well…uh," Jean was suddenly feeling nervous.

"Oh come on. You're not going to say it anymore? What happened to cocky Jean that was here a few seconds ago."

"Shut up, Eren threw me off…its Mikasa, alright." The sudden confession caused Connie to stop as Jean continued to walk ahead.

"Isn't Mikasa out of your league?" said Connie.

"Thanks, friend."

Connie shook his head and caught up with Jean, "Sorry, what I meant to say was I didn't think Mikasa would be someone you were interested in. I figured it would be someone less quiet."

"Just because she doesn't talk that much, doesn't mean she isn't attractive," said Jean.

"Oh, she is, but that's not what I'm saying. What kind of person is she? What does she like and dislike?"

Jean was a little taken back by the sudden questions, "Uh, I'm not sure."

"Do you have anything in common with her?"

"I don't know." A specific trait popped into his head, "we both think it's a bento and not a lunchbox!"

"You see, if you don't know who she really is, how are you going to keep a relationship at all? You guys might have bad chemistry, and you don't even know it."

Feeling a little defeated, Jean looked away as he said, "Ah, whatever since when did you become a love doctor?"

"I know how to make a new friend. I mean I believe that you want you're girlfriend to be, like, your best friend, that way you can do so many things together." Seeing his friend ignore him, Connie nudged Jean as he said, "But if you think Mikasa is the one, then go for it."

The two shared a smile, as Jean responded, "Thanks…baldy."

"Hey, it's shaved."

Closing his bedroom door, Eren had just finished dealing with his dad's friends, and in order to go through the boring discussions, the thought of what Jean was saying was racing through his mind. It was stupid; he thought to himself, only Jean would believe something like that.

But what if…it actually worked?

No, no, no, no, it can't be true. Then again, there were already things that were out of the ordinary. He was aware of the surreal high-class lifestyle at Viridis, and even saw a dog turn into a human. Surely this world has a lot more surprises in store for him. Something as small as a superstition would not be considered odd. The possibility was gnawing at his brain, because there was one person he wouldn't mind saying it to. She was the first person he saw when he asked himself, "who would I want to stay with forever?" He blushed brightly as he laid face first on his pillow. "What the hell am I thinking about?"

Three days left until Christmas Eve, and his nerves where sending jolts across his chest as he sat up. "I guess…it wouldn't hurt," he said, "I don't have to say 'I love you,' I just need to say stay with me…as a friend, of course…yeah, it still counts."

* * *

**Present…**

"What is it, Eren?" Mikasa was softly lifting her scarf to cover her mouth, waiting for the boy to respond.

His eyes remained lock with hers, only acknowledging the noises around him as he tried to say it. "Mikasa…we're friends, right?"

"I hope so, why? Is something wrong?" She freed her scarf for the moment.

"And, it would be nice if we…keep it that way…"

"Of course."

"…Forever."

Once again, silence between them. Something was pinching at her heart, and it was beginning to hurt for some reason.

_Why does it hurt? I should be happy that Eren wants to stay friends; this is what I was comfortable with from the start. I was satisfied with just this, and yet…why does it hurt?_

"Mikasa!" Eren nearly shouted as she blinked. She felt a wetness trailing down her left cheek. "Mikasa, are you…"

It was a single droplet that caused her to wipe it, this sudden reaction was unknown, it had never happened before. "I-I'm fine…I think."

He was unsure what to do, and could say what he thought would calm her, "Maybe a snowflake dropped on your face."

"Yeah, that must be it."

There was more he had to say, but as soon as he opened his mouth, the other's had finally arrived.

"Yo! Eren, Mikasa!" shouted Connie.

"Sorry, we're late," said Sasha, "Jean was taking forever."

"Hey, it wasn't just me. Marco got lost on the way."

Marco held the back of his head in embarrassment, "S-Sorry, I wasn't sure where this place was."

"It's at the center of town," said Connie.

"And there is a huge tree," added Sasha.

"Well, the roads were confusing," said Marco looking to either Eren or Jean for support.

"Now, now, the most important thing is that we are all here. I tried to get Mina and Thomas to come as well, but they had plans."

"What about Franz and Hannah?" said Sasha.

"Those two are having their own special Christmas Eve," winked Christa.

"Since when were they going out?" said Jean.

"Who cares…dang lovebirds," said Eren.

"Ah, is someone jealous?" teased Connie. Eren ignored the comment.

"Mikasa you look amazing," said Christa as she approached the girl. Eren looked back, it was too late now.

"Thanks, you too." As everyone was getting reacquainted with each other, the smell of pies, chocolates, ham, and a plethora of other dishes were beginning to flow to each of their nostrils.

"Man, I'm starving," said Eren.

"Me too, I skipped dinner with the folks cuz I thought we were gonna eat here," said Connie.

"Well then why don't we enjoy ourselves? Let's go!" said Christa as everyone repeated, "Let's go," in unison.

The group stopped at many of the stalls as they enjoyed the various eatery stations supplied by the Mayor of Shiganshina. Once they had their fill, they partook in the games nearby. Jean managed to win a prize, albeit a small one, as he showed it off to the others. Eren also won another small prize, and the two argued about whose was bigger…or something like that. It wasn't until Mikasa one the biggest prize that both of them fell silent. She handed it to a nearby mother and daughter, as it was too much of a burden to carry. Connie was randomly picked by a street performer to be the subject of a trick. Sasha, Jean, and Eren laughed hysterically as Connie had a nest of birds appear on the top of his head.

The performance was drawing a huge crowd, and one of the audience members was the Mayor himself. He was tall, with wavy blonde hair, and his clean-cut attire stood out from the crowd. However, right now, everyone was focused on the performer who chose Christa as his next subject. She stood nervously as she waited for what was going to happen. A single cape covered her entire body, and one second later she had disappeared. Everyone looked around for the petit girl, only for her to reappear when the performer held the cape in a different position. Not only did she come back, but also was dressed in a wedding gown. The crowd applauded the act while the Mayor held his gaze at the girl. Christa smiled, but then asked the performer to give her clothes back since it was cold. He happily obliged as once again the crowd was stunned. The two bowed as the others approached Christa, Sasha and Mikasa agreed that she looked beautiful with the dress. The boys were a little embarrassed to comment, except for Eren, who happily told her that she would make a good wife someday. It made Christa blush, while Mikasa was a little miffed at his unwavering remark. As they were talking amongst themselves, the performer grabbed Mikasa and Sasha to their surprise. He said to the audience, "One more act, it will leave you breathless!" Standing still the two girls looked at their friends, almost like they were asking for help. They all smiled and waved. Sasha was almost crying, and Mikasa was glaring at Eren who had the biggest smile on his dumb face. All of a sudden, the performer spoke in an unheard of language, and in a flash, the two girls were slowly ascending. Eren was no longer smiling, as his expression turned to one of disbelief. A moment later, the performer waved his hands across the sky, and the two of them began flying, following the same motions as his hands. The crowd was astonished. Eren's eyes were locked on Mikasa as he saw her glide through the air. She really is beautiful, he thought to himself. Sasha was screaming with joy, while Mikasa kept silent, taking in this experience for herself. The Mayor looked on, and became smitten with what he saw. After a few minutes, the performer returned the two girls back to Earth as everyone applauded. Thanking the two of them, he bowed once again, and a second later a puff of smoke enveloped his presence, he had vanished.

"That. Was. Awesome! I can't believe it! Mikasa! We were flying!" Sasha was grabbing her shoulders.

Mikasa smiled as she said, "It was amazing."

"Well, wasn't that something," said Eren, "What else can we do that will top that?"

"I know right?" said Connie.

"I can't believe this happens every year," said Marco, "this is wonderful."

Jean patted his back, "Man, Ostia is tough."

"Yep, tough," said Connie grabbing his shoulder. The others repeated the action.

"Tough," said Eren.

"Tough," said Sasha.

"Tough," said Christa.

"Like I said, it really isn't…not you too Mikasa," said Marco.

"Tough," said Mikasa only because Eren nudged her.

Once they shared a laugh, they all returned to their evening. "After all that, I'm kind of getting thirsty," said Sasha.

"I'll go get some drinks, anyone else want something?" said Eren.

"Ah, me too," said Christa, "I can help you." Mikasa quickly turned towards Eren as she was about to offer her assistance as well.

"Oh, don't worry about it, its only two bottles."

"Actually, I'm kind of parched too," said Connie.

"Get me one too," said Jean.

Eren sighed, "Fine, how about us guys go get them." Eren began pulling Connie as Jean and Marco followed.

"Sit tight ladies, you rest," said Jean.

"We'll be right back," said Marco.

The three girls sat on a nearby bench as they waited patiently.

"This is fun, I'm glad I'm here with you guys," said Christa.

"Oh yeah, you had plans with family, right?" said Sasha.

"Yes, but not just that. Other people at school wanted me to hang out with them, but I politely turned them down."

"Aw, you like us that much? Or is it perhaps there is someone among us you 'like' very much."

Christa blushed, "W-What are you talking about, Sasha?"

"Bull's-eye. Help me out Mikasa." Mikasa didn't want to take part, as she was well aware of Christa's feelings for a certain brown-haired boy. She never said that she loved him, but Mikasa knew how much Christa meant to Eren. There was definitely something there, but unless she says it out loud, there was no point in hounding her about it. As Mikasa was about to stop Sasha, a gentleman interrupted them.

"Hello, young madams," he said, "you have made this wonderful day, even more glorious."

The three girls looked at each other, not sure what to think of this man.

"Um, thank you, sir," said Christa.

"Please, call me Adam." He kneeled down to kiss all three girls on their hands, "and what are your names?"

Sasha held her hand as she blushed, while Mikasa tried to wipe off the mark from her hand.

"My name is Sasha."

"I'm Christa," she said as she bowed.

"I'm not telling you my name."

"Ah, this is Mikasa, sorry she is just a little shy," said Christa who was beginning to feel a death glare on the side of her face. "It's nice to meet you."

"Wonderful names! I would be honored if you three joined me at my party." Adam pointed towards a nearby building, there was a balcony and people were gathered inside.

"Eh, I don't think—" said Christa.

"Come, come, it will be fun. All of you will be the life of the party," said Adam as he began pushing the three of them.

Mikasa turned around, confronting Adam as she said, "I'm sorry, but we are here with some friends. Therefore, we can't go."

Adam took a step back, "Eh, more lovely ladies? Where?"

Mikasa pointed towards the group of boys that were walking this way.

"You just had to get smoothie," said Jean.

"I was surprised that they actually had it on their menu," said Marco.

"I know, lucky me," said Connie.

"Hey guys, who is that with the girls?" said Eren. "Um, excuse me, is there a problem?"

Adam expression was one of disappointment, "Very unfortunate. Young gentlemen, will you allow me to escort these ladies to my banquet for the evening?"

"What banquet?" said Eren.

"Its my little social gathering I do every year for Christmas Eve. I would invite you boys too, but I feel these beautiful women are more suited for such an occasion as opposed to you." Adam began pointing at their attire.

"Hey!" said Connie.

"Well, Mikasa and Christa makes sense, but you think Sasha is beautifully dressed?" said Jean.

"Hey!" said Sasha, "At least someone here appreciates my style. You on the other hand look like a slob."

As Jean and Sasha were arguing, Eren stood in front of Adam. "Hm what is it?" said Adam.

"I'm terribly sorry, but we all came here together to enjoy Christmas Eve," said Eren as he handed the bottles he was carrying to Connie. "It's obvious to see that they don't want to go, so I would appreciate it if you leave them alone."

Eren was trying his best not to lose control on this man, and Mikasa noticed this. "Like he said, we would rather stay here. I'm sorry." She bowed as Sasha and Christa followed her actions. Once Mikasa stood straight, she walked away and stayed behind Eren. He noticed this for a moment before he returned to glare at Adam.

Suddenly, the sound of laughter was escalating from Adam to the point where others around them noticed. Adam sighed as he glided his hair back, "I guess the prince act didn't work." He faced Eren as he continued, "You. Are. Good. I like that expression on your face. It's the face of someone who has courage. I respect that."

They were all confused at the sudden change in attitude.

"Ah, sorry, sorry. I'm used to saying stuff like that when I like something. One of the traits of being a Mayor, I guess." Adam approached Mikasa, but Eren stayed between them for caution as Adam said, "You two…are in a relationship, right?"

Jean nearly choked on his own spit, and Christa nearly screamed out in denial.

"No! No, we're not," blurted Eren.

"He's right," said Mikasa, a small tint of red was shown on her cheeks. She then remembered what he had said, "you said you were the Mayor?"

Adam bowed with one hand covering his heart and the other stretched outward. "Adam Valentine, Mayor of Shiganshina, and heartthrob to all women."

"Seriously? You look too young to be a mayor," said Connie. "I thought it was some old fart."

"It was. Now I'm in charge."

"We are really sorry if we offended you in any way," said Marco.

"Marco!" said Eren. It didn't matter if this guy was the Prime Minister, Eren would never respect him. How could the Mayor be this guy, he thought to himself.

Just then, a familiar voice came towards the group. "Adam, I thought we were supposed to meet at the inn."

"Oh dang, it's the principal!" said Connie.

"And the gym teacher," said Sasha pointing at Mike.

"Hm? Oh, I believe you're all Levi's students," said Erwin as Mike was following him. "What's going on here?" Erwin was already aware of Adam's playboy antics as he retracted his question, "I don't care who you flirt with, but please, don't let it be any of my students,"

"Relax, Erwin, it was just an invitation that got rejected. Let's hurry up back inside and enjoy a couple of drinks with some real women," said Adam, "I know Mike is interested."

"Don't lump me together with you," said Mike.

As Adam and Mike headed inside, Erwin faced his students, "Why don't you guys go ahead an enjoy the rest of the evening, its almost time for the tree to light up, you know."

"Oh yeah we almost forgot about that! Let's go guys, thank you Mr. Smith," said Christa as she bowed. The others followed suit, but Eren stayed behind for a moment. Mikasa, noticing this, waited for him.

"What's wrong, Eren?" said Erwin.

"You actually have business with that man?" Eren wasn't sure why someone as respectable as Erwin would bother with a guy like Adam.

"Yes. Do you not approve?" smiled Erwin.

"Eh, no. It just seems odd."

"I knew his father," said Erwin, "We were close, and now his son, Adam, took over the position."

"Is his father dead?"

"No, no, he is too sick to continue working so he retired. He didn't want to burden the people of Shiganshina by not having the strength to help them."

"His father sounds great, I guess that's why nothing went wrong in Shiganshina as I grew up. At least, until recently."

Erwin looked at Eren intently, and suddenly grabbed his shoulder, "Are you aware of it, Eren?"

Eren was confused, "Excuse me, sir?"

Mikasa was wondering why Mr. Smith was holding Eren.

After a moment of silence between them, Erwin could see that Eren didn't fully understand situation, "Never mind." Erwin released him as walked away.

"Wait a minute, what were you talking about?"

"Just keep your eyes open, and be prepared for anything. So long, Eren."

As Erwin entered the building, Mikasa approached Eren, "What was that about?"

"I'm not sure. I feel like they are going to talk about something important," he said.

"Well, it's none of our concern."

"Mr. Zacharius is also with him, almost like a bodyguard."

Mikasa noticed that Eren was beginning to space out, "Eren. I told you, it is none of our business."

"Yeah…sorry."

As Eren and Mikasa reached the others, they could hear Connie's whining. "Oh man, there is still like 30 minutes left. Should we do something else in the meantime?'

"I don't want to risk it though," said Christa.

"We could hang out by the bridge and throw rocks," said Sasha.

"Sure, why not," said Jean sarcastically.

Eren looked back towards the inn, "You guys go on ahead, I'm going to head to the restroom."

Not waiting for anyone's confirmation, he bolted. Mikasa looked on; there was something in the air, an almost menacing feeling that caused her to shutter.

* * *

"So, Erwin. You called for a meeting…here it is," said Adam. Two women were seated next to him sharing a drink.

"I would've preferred a more calmer setting to talk about this, but I suppose that is asking too much," said Erwin as he signaled Mike to sit down as well.

"Well, I am a busy person," said Adam as he placed his arms over the girl's shoulders. "What is it you want?

Meanwhile, Eren had just entered the inn and asked the bartender for Erwin's whereabouts.

"Aren't you a little too young to be in here?" said the bartender.

"I just need to find someone, they came in just a few minutes ago," said Eren.

"You might want to check upstairs then, and if I catch you with a drink, I'm kicking you out." Eren nodded in agreement as he thanked the bartender.

Eren wasn't stupid; oblivious at times, but not stupid, he knew that things were going on in Shiganshina, especially when Mikasa mentioned the student harassments at the store that night. Perhaps Erwin was asking the Mayor to help him stop these events. As he searched for his principal, he heard a loud laughter coming from the back of the room. Avoiding other guests, he sat far enough to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"You want me to investigate Viridis Academy, and possibly shutdown Rubeus High School?" said Adam. "Rubeus might be possible, but if I were to tarnish Viridis' image, the economy in Shiganshina would crumble. Everyone in the world only knows Shiganshina exists, because of Viridis.

"I know it's a bit of a tall order, but I believe these student harassments are only the beginning. Soon, Shiganshina will become engulfed in chaos, and I believe there are culprits somewhere amongst the two schools."

"Eh, Viridis and Rubeus?" mumbled Eren, "Is there going to be danger in the near future?"

Adam sighed, "You're putting a lot of blame on these intuitions without evidence."

"I guess you'll have to trust me. Your father believed in me, and he has never once regretted it."

Adam's face grew grim. He grabbed the nearest drink from one of the girls and chugged it down. "That was him, this is me. Bringing my father into this won't help you."

"Then how about this," Erwin grabbed a drink as he said, "The Crimson Brawlers are involved. You know who they are, and you know how your father kicked them out of the city when you were a kid." Adam was silent as he saw Erwin chug his drink and handing another to Mike. "If you don't want your city to burn, then you must work with me."

"The Crimson Brawlers? I think I heard of them before," said Eren.

Adam motioned the women to leave as a slight giggle escaped his mouth. What he said next caught Erwin by surprise, "All of this for a stupid vault."

"Vault? What vault?" said Eren.

Erwin grew wide eyed, "How do you know about that."

"The old man told me. He said 'you must help Erwin and keep the vault in his hands.' Pathetic."

Erwin glanced at Mike, signaling him to move around.

"I don't care about your vault, which means I don't care about you or that fake building you call a high school."

"Adam, do you not care about the people of Shiganshina?"

"Don't you give me remorse, I care more about these people than you do." Adam chugged another drink as he continued, "And don't worry about Shiganshina, there will be no danger involving the Crimson Brawlers, thanks to me."

"And why the confidence?"

"I have a lot of supporters, that's all Erwin." Adam stood up, "As for your school, and the vault…well, I can't promise there won't be any violence."

Eren was shocked; he grew infuriated at the notion of Caeurleum being in the middle of crossfire. He wanted to stay longer, but his phone died and he needed to get back to the others. Seeing Erwin standing up, Eren decided to leave now as he maneuvered out of the building. As he ran back towards the center of town, Mike saw him in the distant.

"I will not protect your greed, Erwin."

Erwin stood up as he said, "Is it greed to want to change the way things are?"

"The world is fine. The ones with power make all the rules, there is order."

"I've known you since you were a child, did you already forget how cruel people with power are? I hope for your sake, you don't become one of them."

With a stoic face, Adam said, "It was nice seeing you again…Uncle Erwin."

"Likewise, Adam. I'll visit your father in the hospital soon."

As Erwin left, Adam mumbled to himself, "I don't think you will get that chance anymore."

* * *

"Where is Eren? He is going to miss it," said Christa preparing to call him on his phone.

Meanwhile, Connie nudged to Jean, "So, are you going to do it or not?"

"Relax, I'm going to do it. I just need to find the right moment," said Jean.

"Well, you're running out of time."

"Alright, alright." Jean cleared his throat as he approached Mikasa, "H-Hey, Mikasa."

Mikasa stopped looking for Eren as Jean called out to her, "Yes?"

"I was wondering if—"

Suddenly, the noise around them rose as more and more people surrounded the tree. Jean looking to escape the crowd grabbed Mikasa by her hands and guided her away.

"Good luck!" yelled Connie to the confusion of the others.

"J-Jean, what's wrong with you?" said Mikasa.

"I-I'm sorry," he said collecting his breathe, "I just need to concentrate."

"We need to find Eren, so what is it you need to say?"

"I'm sure the others will find him." Jean was growing even more nervous, but he was able to find the courage as he said, "I wanted to know, if you want to stand together when they turn on. Just the two of us."

Mikasa was unsure what difference that would make. Right now, she just wanted to find Eren, but at the same time she had to ask, "Why? Is something supposed to happen?"

"K-Kind of, its just some superstition that will make us be…closer." He looked away as he clarified, "By saying 'stay with me…forever'." The last word was too muffled for her to hear.

Mikasa was sure he meant to stay as friends. That by itself was something she didn't mind, in fact, she was kind of happy to hear it.

Eren was sure to arrive; after all, Christa should have called him already. This prompted Mikasa to ask, "Shouldn't we also do this superstition with the others then?"

"N-No, it only works with two people."

"I see." Suddenly, Mikasa and Jean got a text message from Sasha and Connie, respectively.

Jean looked back at Mikasa, "It's almost going to start. What do you say Mikasa?"

"Okay."

Thrilled, Jean guided her near the tree, where most of the townsfolk were as everyone waited. There were only a few minutes left, and as the air was getting tense, Mikasa was still looking around, almost as if she was waiting for someone.

Jean, on the other hand, could not stop smiling. He was so close to telling her to stay be her side forever, like the superstition said. Feeling confident, he even decided to go the extra mile as he was going to ask her to be his girlfriend. After all, she agreed to be closer with him. That definitely meant that she wanted to be his girlfriend too.

Suddenly, another text message reached the two of them. It was Christa:

Christa: Have u guys seen Eren? I can't find him! :(

"Man, what is that idiot doing?" said Jean.

Mikasa's was beginning to worry, but leaving Jean here would be cruel. Especially since he was doing all this for her, and if Christa couldn't find him, how would she be able to?

"Mikasa?" Jean was wondering what she was looking at.

This tradition was something she had never seen before on Christmas Eve. Christa had told her that it was a beautiful moment that you would always remember. So, this is an experience Mikasa wanted to share with everyone, not just Jean. And if this so called "superstition" was true, and that two people could become closer, then there was just one other person she wanted to be with. She couldn't lie to herself, even if everyone hated her, as long as Eren was the one, she would be happy.

"I-I'm sorry Jean, but we should really find Eren. I-I don't want him to miss this."

"What? It's going to start soon. I'm sure he is somewhere in the crowd."

"Yes, but still I…I want to find him. I'm worried."

Jean thought to himself, why was she so concerned with him?

At that moment, it clicked. Everything Mikasa talked about in one-way or another was related to Eren. _No way…does she._

"One minute left!" yelled an announcer. Everyone was cheering, and because of this, it pushed to Mikasa to go.

"I'm really sorry Jean, I'll look for Eren. I'm sure the others are still in the same spot, you should hurry up and join them." With that she disappeared into the crowd, as Jean stood motionless.

"40 seconds!"

"Excuse me!" said Mikasa pushing people aside. She took out her phone to call him, no answer. It must be too loud for him to hear it.

"30 seconds!"

_You idiot, where are you._

"20 seconds!"

_Eren. Eren. _

"10...9…8."

_I…I can't find you._

Because of her haste, she bumped into someone. "I'm sorry," she said, and as she looked up, her eyes grew wide.

"Mikasa?"

"Eren?"

"7…6…5…4."

"Were you running late too? Looks like we made it in time," he said.

"3…2…1!"

A flash of light caught the attention of nearly every person in Shiganshina. Mikasa and Eren gazed at the sight before them. Lights of green, red, and white skated diagonally up the leaves where the shining star sat atop the tree. The brightness of the ornament covered the entire town square, as everyone was memorized by it.

For the briefest of moments, Mikasa felt at peace, as if the light was cleansing her of her past. She was happy, not only for what she saw, but of who she was with.

Eren took his eyes away from the tree, as they drifted towards the girl next to her. The things that Erwin and Adam were talking about made him worry about her. He had to make sure that she was safe, because if anything happened to her, he would be devastated.

Mikasa began feeling something warm on her hand. As she looked down, she saw his hand holding hers tightly. Eren continued looking at the Christmas tree as she stared at him. Her chest was tightening, and her stomach felt lighter. He was holding her hand so securely as if he would never let go. She shied away as she covered her mouth with her red scarf. This feeling, she didn't want it to stop. Then, she remembered about the superstition.

"Eren…"

He looked back at her, and thought that she didn't like what he was doing. So, he released her. Her hand was cold now.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have done that," said Eren.

Mikasa shook her head, "It's okay." Her voice was a little muffled from the scarf. "Um, Eren."

"What is it?"

"Will you stay with me?"

_Those words, in front of the Christmas tree. Did she know about it too?_

"Stay with you…here?"

"Not just that, but…forever."

Eren's face grew red. _She actually said it, does that mean that she…likes me?_

Eren grew bold as he grabbed her hand once again, "Mikasa…is there someone you like?"

The sudden response and action caught her completely off-guard, as she fumbled her words, "W-What…y-you…I-I."

Eren waited for her response, and as she took a deep breath, she started to understand what this feeling was. "I think I do," she said.

"Who is it?" He already knows the answer; all he wants is to hear it from her.

With the last ounce of her courage, Mikasa gave him an answer, "It's…you."

It's him. For the first time in his entire life, Eren felt butterflies to the point where he could soar forever. If only the performer was here to help him with that.

She looked away out of embarrassment, but it was the truth. She had always wondered what this feeling was, but she knew it only happened around him. At first it was odd, but then she gradually enjoyed it. It was like she could do anything.

They were supposed to be just friends, but the universe had other plans. As of now, he knew she liked him and the way he was holding her hand, she knew he liked her. That was all they needed, and whether it would become even more than that would have to wait for another day. Because neither would say, "I love you" yet, for that was an emotion that is beyond the feelings they were having now. They were just two teenagers staring at each other. Eren grabbed the other hand, as Mikasa stood motionless. Both were completely oblivious to the sound, the lights, and the people around them; they were only looking at each other, never wanting to leave the other's side.

But this world is cruel, and as Eren was beginning to move closer, the sound of a blast erupted around the Christmas tree. The crowd of people scattered in fear, as the 15-meter tall shining beacon fell to the ground.

* * *

**Thank you for reading, as I said, there will be a part 3. Leave a review if you like it, check my profile for updates, and I'll see ya guys later :)**


	18. A December to Remember: Part 3

**Finally! Here is the last part of this little arc. Enjoy!**

* * *

A December to Remember: Part 3

It was a frightening sound, hearts pounding as the people of Shiganshina took cover. The once bright beacon of the town was reduced to a pile of debris. Amongst the cloud of smoke, there was a tall man, with others behind him. He had wide shoulders, with dark hair that was knotted at the top. There was evidence of past struggles as his face was masked with scars. The cold didn't seem to bother him as he wore an open red jacket that showed a black tank top. Holding a megaphone, he grabbed the attention of everyone there.

"Everyone shut up! My name is Kane and I am the leader of the Crimson Brawlers." Citizens who had lived in the town before Adam's father took over, knew how terrifying the gang was, as demonstrated by the growing fear in their eyes. "I'm looking for someone, and this damn tree was in the way. So, in order to make this quick, none of you are going anywhere, until I spot Erwin Smith." The majority of people at the festival became surrounded by members of his gang, while those who managed to escape or were away from the area when it happened, were being attacked by the rest of the brawlers. Kane began describing his target, "He is about this tall with blonde hair, and has a soulless expression. Ring any bells?" Just then, one of his underlings began chuckling, "What is so funny?"

"Bells…they're all over the ground," snickered the brawler. Kane tossed his megaphone aside as he approached the individual. "W-Wait…I was ki—." Kane clutched his face as began to squeeze tightly. The noise of bones cracking was haunting, so much so, that Christa had to look away.

Marco grabbed her shoulders, "It's alright."

"Oh man, what do we do?" said Connie as he was beginning to shake.

"We can't do anything yet," said Marco, "for now, we just don't draw attention to ourselves." He looked around in the crowd as he said, "It doesn't seem like the others are here…hopefully they got away before those guys surrounded us."

"Dang, I should've followed Sasha when she said something was wrong," said Connie.

"We'll be fine, they aren't interested in us," said Marco.

Christa, now able to raise her head, said, "Didn't they say they were looking for Erwin Smith? What do they want with out principal?"

Marco and Connie looked at each other with concern. None of them had any idea what was going on, and all they wanted to do was to get out of this situation unscathed.

As the three were pondering about it, they had not realized that one of the guards was standing behind them. The brawlers were grouping everyone to form a small crowd, and they had not noticed.

"Oh, you kids sure talk a lot." Marco and Connie jumped back as Christa moved behind them. "Hey, boss! These kids look like they know something."

Tossing the body over, Kane walked over as the people parted, nobody got in his way.

"So, you three little ones knows where Erwin is?" They stood silent, not wavering at the man's question. "Not talking? You are making this more difficult than it has to be, and I've been waiting too damn long already." Suddenly, another brawler grabbed Christa from behind as she yelped. Connie and Marco turned around to stop him, but were immediately hit in the back by two others. The force had them lying on the ground; Marco was picked up by the throat.

"Marco!" yelled Christa.

"Where is Erwin Smith?" said Kane.

"We don't know!" said Marco. Kane continued to squeeze his throat causing Connie to charge at him. It was pointless, as Connie was hit in the gut, kneeling down as he grabbed his stomach.

The crowd of people looked on in horror as Christa pleaded, "Please…let them go." As she saw her two friends being hurt, she had to say something that will make them stop. "We are his students at Caeruleum! But that's all; we don't know where he is right now. Please, that's it." Her eyes were getting watery.

He released Marco as he said, "Students? That makes sense."

Just as he was about to grab Christa, Adam emerged from the crowd, "What the hell are you doing, Kane!"

"Oh, it's the Mayor." The brawler released Christa, as Kane faced Adam.

"This wasn't part of the deal!" yelled Adam, "You're completely disregarding what you were ordered to do!"

"Listen, pretty boy, no one is ordering me around. This is a job; I can quit whenever I feel like it." Kane began moving closer to Adam as he continued, "As for the deal, YOU were supposed to hand over Erwin Smith.

Adam looked down; "I…was going to," he said, "after he left, I was going to have someone kidnap him, so that he didn't think it was me."

"Useless," said Kane, "Because you didn't do your job, I had to do all this." He extended his arms wide, "Look at it, Mr. Mayor. All of this…is your fault." Laughter erupted from his mouth as every citizen shook with fear. "I'll show you what happens, when you make me wait." Kane signaled his men to start smashing everything within sight; ornaments, shops, and vehicles were crumbling to pieces. Connie, Christa, Marco, and Adam watched as they witnessed the chaos erupt all around them. But even amongst the noise of shattered glass, and the screams of people, the one sound that was the most prevalent was that of Kane as he screamed, "Where are you Erwin Smith!"

Hoping to stop it all, Adam directed a couple of police officers that were standing idly by. "You two arrest them! Do something!"

The two police officers just looked at each other as they waved him off, "Like we will ever get involved with that."

Adam clenched his fist, "I am the Mayor of Shiganshina! I am ordering you—"

"You don't pay us enough to do anymore than what we are already doing." The officer and his partner began walking away, "You can relax, boy, we were told they won't kill anyone. They're just going to make some noise here and there."

"Told? Who told you?" As Adam was approaching them for answers, he was stopped by Kane who began picking him up by the collar.

"Shut up already!" He punched Adam in the face; blood began flowing as he looked up at him. "You haven't earned any respect to be called Mayor of Shiganshina. I should be the Mayor." Kane laughed as he walked away, leaving Adam aghast. The people began distancing themselves from him when he walked towards the crowd. Loneliness was putting it mildly as he sat on a nearby bench; eyes were focused on the ground beneath him. Christa, Marco, and Connie could only look on; concerned if their friends were truly safe.

* * *

"This is bad," said Jean. He was lucky he had walked away from the tree, after Mikasa had left him alone in the crowd. Seeing the yearly tradition of Shiganshina wasn't the same after his failed attempt to be with her, so he had wandered off; just far enough from being trapped by those brawlers. Now, every brain cell in his mind was telling him to leave, but he couldn't. The wisest thing to do would be to call the police, but the lines were busy. So, the next best thing he could do was to make sure his friends were all right. He tried calling them, but they were turned off. The brawlers must have taken their phones by now, thought Jean.

Deciding not to stay where he was, he maneuvered behind the buildings until he saw the hostages. He couldn't pinpoint any of his friends, until his attention was stolen Kane who continued yelling, "Erwin Smith!"

"What does he want with our principal? What is going on?" Jean resumed scanning for his friends, and finally, he had found someone he had recognized. "Marco…Connie…and Christa! They don't look all right, but where are the others? Is Mikasa okay? Dang it!" It wasn't long before a wandering brawler spotted Jean.

"Hey brat, you think you can sneak around?"

"Shit!" Jean attempted to move past him, but the brawler was too big. His clenched fist connected straight with his stomach, as Jean fell to the ground. He mumbled as he tried to pull his head up, "So this is how it felt, huh Marco."

"Do you know where Erwin Smith is?" said the brawler.

Jean glared at him, "No idea…check the address book. That should be easier than doing all this."

"Smart mouth. Kane is going to use you as a punching bag." Jean was moving backward, until he hit the wall behind him.

"Watch out Jean!" said Sasha as a handful of barrels began rolling down towards him and the brawler.

"What the—" The brawler was trampled by the heavy barrels as Jean was grabbed by Sasha, pulling him away from the mess.

"Come on," said Sasha, "I don't think he will stay down long."

Jean glanced at the mess before turning back to her, "Looks like you got away too."

"Yeah, I felt something was wrong, so I went to check things out around here."

"Is that some kind of sixth sense?"

"I guess so, it's come and gone."

"Hey, Sasha."

"Yes, Jean?"

"You can let go of my hand." They stopped running, as Sasha, without any reaction, obliged. "And thanks…for the help."

"Ah, don't mention it," smiled Sasha, "that's what friends are for."

Jean nodded as he remembered something; "Speaking of friends, I saw Christa, Marco, and Connie amongst the hostages," he said.

"Yeah me too," she said.

Jean pulled out his phone, "I called the Police, but it's busy. I'm sure they will come soon."

"I don't think so."

"What do you mean?"

Sasha looked down as she said, "I saw a couple of officers ignoring everything. They didn't care one bit."

Jean was in disbelief, "No way, that can't be true."

"It doesn't matter," Sasha shook her head, "right now we need to make sure Eren and Mikasa are all right."

"Yeah, have you tried calling them?"

"Eren's phone is probably dead, and Mikasa won't pick up."

Jean placed his phone back in his pocket.

"Do you have any ideas?" said Sasha.

Just as the two of them were gazing at the crowd, they saw two familiar figures walking towards the leader of the Crimson Brawlers.

"It's the principal and Mr. Zacharius!" said Sasha.

"Yeah," Jean looked ahead, "Now is our chance to look around for the others. Come on, Sasha."

* * *

"Erwin Smith. Finally showed yourself, that was smart of you," said Kane.

Mike stood close by as Erwin confronted the brawler, "Now that I'm here, you can tell your men to stop."

"Of course, the ones around here can stop, but the rest of them are scattered around town. They won't be able to hear me."

Erwin glanced at Adam who was in a still a state of disappointment. He was thinking of consoling him, but then he noticed Christa approaching him.

"Leave me alone," said Adam.

Christa noticed Adam had not cleaned his face after taking that punch. She decided to wipe some of the blood off.

"Oh, your that girl from earlier. What are you doing?" he said.

"It's going to stain your face," said Christa. Adam wasn't in the mood to argue as he allowed her to continue. Even with their condition, Erwin was glad to see that his students were okay.

"Kane," said Erwin, "You've had your fun. All of you, its time to go home."

The other Crimson Brawlers began to move closer to Erwin and Mike. "You're funny, Erwin," said Kane, "But I can't go home yet, my job isn't finished."

"And what job is that?" said Erwin as Mike was getting into his stance.

Kane cracked his knuckles, "A message from Viridis."

* * *

"Mikasa get behind me," said Eren. The two teenagers were in a bind. After the explosion, and the collapse of the tree, Eren had guided Mikasa away from the mayhem. They noticed the brawlers swarming the majority of the people near the wreckage, but they were eventually caught themselves by three wandering brawlers.

"Eren, there are more behind us."

Eren looked at all directions, "Dang it, what is the police doing?

In that moment, one of the brawlers charged at Eren, and he tried his best to evade it. It wasn't long before the others started to join in, thinking that they would end this quickly if they all attacked at once. But what they didn't expect was the girl joining the fight as well, as Mikasa straight kicked one of them in the face out of instinct. She realized what she did, so she quickly looked back at Eren. He had not noticed as his attention was focused on the brawler he had barely dodged. Eren threw one jab, and then another, both hitting their mark as the brawler took a step back to regain himself.

Seeing that Eren was occupied with the man in front of him, Mikasa took this opportunity to strike at the two others behind them. She had to make it quick, because not only did they need to get away, she also didn't want to let Eren see her in such a way. The thought of it bothered her, and if Eren started to dislike her because of her fearsome strength, it would be like Serus all over again, it would be like loosing Luna all over again.

She avoided the incoming jab as she ducked, but instead of retaliating, she ran towards the other one instead. She dodged the second man's attempt at a punch, and with an opening revealed, she twisted his hand to use him as a shield. Getting hit in the face by his comrade, the man lost consciousness as Mikasa released him. In one quick motion, she kneed the remaining brawler causing him to shuffle back. Seeing his unguarded state, she finished him off with one power punch to the face; he spat blood as he fell on his back.

With the two men down, Mikasa cleaned herself off, and as she turned around, she was met with a pair of wide green eyes. Eren saw what she had done.

"E-Eren! You got him," she said trying to make the boy forget.

"Yeah..."

_What just happened? Was she always a good fighter? How did she?_

There were too many questions going on in his mind, and with the situation as it is, there was just no time for any of it. Thinking the same thing, Mikasa spoke up before Eren could say anything.

"E-Eren, we need to go find the others." Walking ahead, she heard the footsteps following her, and each sound was causing her heart to beat louder. What could she say that will make him forget what he saw? This was the worst way for him to find out about her "talent." As soon as they made sure their friends were all right, she would explain it. Still, feeling Eren's piercing eyes was not helping one bit.

Meanwhile, Sasha and Jean were still searching, but to no avail.

"Maybe they left the area as soon as they heard the explosion," said Sasha.

"That would be smart of them, but also kind of cruel since we are still here," said Jean.

Sasha giggled as she said, "Ya gotta to do what ya gotta do to survive." Jean looked at her with a quizzical look. Sasha stopped as she noticed his expression, "What are you looking at?"

"I might be tired, but your accent changed just now," he said, "What happened to that maiden attitude?"

Embarrassed, Sasha quickly corrected herself, "U-UH…You got to do, what you got to—"

"Stop it, don't try to hide it," he said halting her.

"W-Wait, Jean!"

Sasha was beginning to pull on Jean's arm sleeve, until Jean finally humored her, "Look, Eren already told me how you've been trying to act like a proper lady and whatever."

"What! How did he know?"

"No idea, he just told me and Connie one weekend."

"No way, the only person who knew about it…Mikasa!" Sasha sighed, "For a friend, she is bad at keeping secrets. But I guess it makes sense now,"

"What does?"

"Well, Mikasa and Eren are always close to each other, and I'm pretty sure they talk a lot too."

It was Jean's turn to pull on Sasha's sleeve, "They do?"

"You haven't noticed? It's pretty obvious," she said.

A part of Jean knew this, but he didn't want to accept it. The scenes he would see when they were together at his store, and when they would arrive at class at the same time, became ever so clearer. Even when he was alone with her, she was so worried about him that she completely left him alone. In a moment where a new relationship could start, all she could think about, was him. A sharp pain had inflicted Jean's chest as he grabbed his shirt.

Sasha noticed this, "Jean? What's wrong?"

Suddenly, Jean chuckled, "Just a growing pain. Its nothing to worry about, little girl."

"Little girl!? We are the same age, ah whatever, that's the last time I worry about you," she said.

As Jean looked ahead, his expression changed, "So much for your sixth sense."

"Hey, you don't have to keep insulting me," she said not noticing the brawler in front of them.

"Sasha, look," he said as he gabbed her head and turned it towards the enemy.

"Oh…Jean, why didn't you say anything?"

The brawler charged straight at the two of them, but luckily, they both managed to dodge him. Suddenly, another one came from the alley screaming, "There they are, that girl threw a freakin' barrel at me!"

Sasha was grabbed by the brawler, grasping tightly to the point where she screamed in pain.

"Sasha!" yelled Jean. He found a glass bottle and threw it at him, striking his head in the process. When the brawler released Sasha, kicked her in the stomach out of anger. In pain, she clutched her stomach as the brawler was preparing to strike again. With fear across her face, Sasha was motionless, "Help me."

Rescuing her, Jean threw another bottle at him, but this time followed it up with a punch to the gut. After witnessing and experiencing the punch to the gut, Jean decided to give one back to his attackers.

"Don't give up yet."

"Jean, behind you!" Sasha alerted Jean to the other brawler, but it was too late as the brawler pushed him towards the wall.

"I'll make you cry till you beg for mercy!" The brawler began choking him; Sasha tried to look for something to strike back with, but she was still a bit shook up from the last guy.

Struggling to breathe, Jean was determined not to fall here of all places. If he died here, there was no way he would hear the end of it from Connie, and especially, Eren.

_Fine, I'll let you have Mikasa, Eren. I'll accept that, but I'm not going to die here, I'm going to find a hotter girl that will make everyone jealous. Then I'll marry her, and I'll become a CEO. I'll die when I'm old and rich. That's how my life is supposed to go, so there's no way it's going to end here!_

"Jean!" yelled Sasha.

With newfound life, Jean kneed the brawler under the chin, and followed up with a head butt. The brawler's grip was weakened as Jean pushed him down. He gave him one more sucker punch to the face just to make sure.

"Sasha, pass me the rope!" She managed to oblige as Jean proceeded to tie up the brawler's legs and hands together. Once secure, Jean kicked him in the face so that he was left unconscious.

Jean collected his breathing as he said, "Take…that!"

As Sasha stood up slowly, she averted her eyes away from him as she apologized, "I…I'm sorry, Jean. I was worthless."

As he wiped the sweat of his forehead, he said, "Eh? Ah, whatever. Now we are even."

"But you could've died." She covered her hands.

"Yeah, probably, but I didn't. So stop crying." He had noticed tears were flowing down her face. He handed her a handkerchief from one of his pockets as he said, "Here. It's not lady like to cry so much."

Sasha looked up at him as she accepted it. "Thank you, Jean." As Jean turned away, Sasha felt her cheeks grow hotter.

It must be the tears, she thought to herself.

"Dang it!" said Jean causing Sasha to jolt. More brawlers had shown up, because of the noise. "Not again, now what?"

Suddenly, all the brawlers were being sent to the ground as a figure bombarded them with boxes and nets.

"What the hell?" said Jean.

"OH! If it isn't my lovely students, looks like you guys are okay! Sorry we took so long."

"Miss Hange!" said Sasha. Others, what appeared to be faculty from Caeruleum High School, followed her. "How did you know we were here?"

Jean shook his head, "Never mind that! Miss Hange, our friends and nearly everyone else who was at the festival are being taken hostage by the Crimson Brawlers!"

Hange waved them off, "No need to worry, young ones."

"But the principal, Mr. Smith, is also there!" said Sasha.

"It's all being taken care of. We're not the only ones here, after all," said Hange.

* * *

"So, you brought help. You coward," said Kane. Mike had already finished the last brawler surrounding them, and before Erwin and Kane could fight, Levi had showed up with his former gang.

"Its just a strategic move," said Erwin, "I always have cards to play."

"You guys all right?" said Levi.

"I'm fine, ask Mike," said Erwin.

"I'm fine," said Mike, but it was obvious he had some bruises.

"Petra, tend to the wounds," said Levi, "Eld, take Gunter and Oluo to free all the people. Tell them they can go home."

"Honestly, Erwin," said Petra, "how could you let Mike do all the work." Mike only nodded in appreciation.

"I had faith Mike could take care of those men," said Erwin.

"Hopefully the insurance will cover this," said Petra with a worrisome tone.

"I would like a raise," said Mike emotionlessly.

Petra immediately halted him, "L-Let's not get carried away here."

"You're usually not one to whine, Mike," said Levi, "but more importantly, we still have an obstacle here."

Kane took off his jacket as he said, "It doesn't matter how many friends you bring, it will not matter. I have brawlers scattered all over this area."

"We know how big the Crimson Brawlers are, which is why I went to ask for a favor before I came here," said Levi.

"Oh, did it work out?" said Erwin.

"Unfortunately, yeah. Now we owe that drunkard a favor in the future."

"What are you two talking about?" said Kane.

"I'm talking about how the faculty of Rubeus High School is here as well, and Dot Pixis has been waiting for this chance. After all, he will finally get to stop the virus that is spreading throughout his school."

* * *

"You're…Dot Pixis?" said Eren.

"Mm," said Pixis as he took another sip from his vial of liquor. A puff of satisfaction left his mouth as he added, "Glad to see you kids are in one piece. Gustav, go tell the others to check every block from here to the center."

"Pixis, your wife told me you shouldn't be drinking this late anymore. Give me the vial," said Anka.

Pixis reluctantly handed it to her as he turned towards Eren and Mikasa. "You two should head home now. Everything will be fine."

"That's good to hear, but we can't leave just yet," said Eren, "our friends are probably around here, we need to see them." Not waiting for his permission, Eren bolted towards the fallen tree with Mikasa in tow.

"What a free spirited boy," said Pixis as he grabbed another vial from his jacket.

As Eren and Mikasa approached the fallen tree, they were shocked to see Levi and the other teachers from Caeruleum here as well.

Connie was the first see them, as Marco and Christa followed, "Eren! Mikasa!"

"Connie," said Eren noticing his condition, "you got a black eye."

"Hm? Oh yeah, took one right in the face as I was trying to save Marco," he said with all smiles.

"Eren, you're also hurt," said Christa, "Did you fight some of them? Let me take a look at it."

Eren grabbed his cheek as he smiled sarcastically smiled, "I-It's fine Christa, and it doesn't hurt at all."

Christa glanced at Mikasa, "You seem to be untouched, Mikasa." There was a hint of speculation as she continued to scan the girl.

Mikasa nodded, not wanting to explain how she was able to defend herself.

"Oh, did Eren protect you?" said Connie as he nudged him.

Eren had a monotone voice as he said, "Sort of." Mikasa heard his tone, and she suddenly felt uncomfortable being around everyone. Christa noticed both of their reactions.

"Hey have you guys seen Jean and Sasha?" said Marco.

"We thought they were with you," said Eren.

"Well Sasha left before it happened, and Jean was with Mikasa the last time I remember," said Connie. They all turned towards Mikasa.

It came back to her as she realized she had left him to find Eren. "U-Uh, I sort of…left him before the explosion."

"That's…pretty cruel," said Connie.

"You two were alone?" said Eren not caring about Jean being alone. He was more curious about how those two were alone right before the countdown ended. Was Jean trying to…

Before Mikasa could say anymore, Jean and Sasha had finally arrived as they finally found everyone.

"Hey you guys! We finally found all of you," said Sasha running towards them.

Jean sighed as he said, "Man this was hell. The worse part was trying to look for all of you guys with this girl."

Sasha faced him as she puffed, "Hey I thought we agreed we weren't going to talk about…you know."

"I didn't say anything specific," said Jean.

"But your teasing it," she said back.

The others watched as the two argued.

"You guys…are really friendly now," said Christa.

They both were both miffed at the statement, "How is this being friendly?"

Sasha added, "Yeah we're ARGUING."

Connie smiled, "That just means you are comfortable with each other."

"Shut up," they both said.

Meanwhile, Eren looked over to where Levi was, "By the way, what's happening over there?" Levi was standing in front of a fallen brawler.

"Oh, you guys missed it. Levi put the smack down on the leader guy," said Connie.

"He beat him pretty bad and quick too," said Marco. "I was speechless."

Mikasa looked on and couldn't believe Levi still had the ability to put anyone down. Even someone as big as that guy. Eren was proud to see his sensei beat the bad guy, so much so that he ran towards him.

"Levi Sensei," he said.

Levi turned around, "Oh, Jaeger." He noticed the others that followed behind him, "and of course, more of my students are here. Either I have a lucky bunch of students, or you're all incredibly stupid for being here."

They all faced away out of embarrassment, except for Eren who said, "It's no excuse Levi Sensei, we should have left before any of this happened."

"You're damn right you should have," Levi signaled Mike to pick Kane up. "There are dangerous people like this everywhere, you all need to be more keen to your surroundings."

"I think Sasha was, she left before any of it happened," said Connie. "Of course, she came back though."

Sasha smiled, "It was a lucky guess."

"Next time you get that feeling, obey it. The rest of you should follow her," said Levi.

They all took it to heart.

"hahahaHAHAHA!" Kane tilted his head up, "A lesson from the teacher, you've gone soft."

"Not soft enough to beat you down," said Oluo triumphantly.

"What are you, a child?" said Eld.

Kane spat at the ground, a slime of blood dripped down his mouth, "Next time, you're dead, Levi. All of you too, especially you, grandpa face."

Oluo shrieked.

"If you want a rematch, I'll give you one, but just us. Nobody else here is worth it."

"Good luck trying to get a rematch anyways," said Petra as she stood behind Levi, "We are going to hand deliver you to the worst prison on Herz."

"I'm not sure that will happen," said Adam approaching the group, "the police will take him from here."

"Come again?" said Levi as everyone looked in disbelief.

"Police? Those guys didn't do a damn thing," said Eren facing Adam.

"It's either them or this man goes free, after all you guys are just teachers," said Adam. He had a point, they really had no authority or say in the matter. This man was a criminal, and the police take care of criminals. Turning towards Erwin, he continued, "Erwin…I'm sorry, it's the only thing I was able to do."

Erwin sees the police taking Kane away, "Handing over a criminal to a bribed police force, not a really smart decision. Though I'm more surprised that police are actually helping now."

"Now that they saw Kane going down, they figured it was good time to act," said Adam.

"Cowards, all of them," said Eren.

"Watch your tongue," said Levi.

"Levi Sensei," he said. Mikasa was not appreciating Levi's attitude as she was prepared to say something back.

But Levi waved them off as he approached Adam, "You are supposed to be in charge of the police, don't let the title of Mayor cloud your eyes from the world." Adam was already battered from Kane's attack, and Levi's words weren't helping.

"Adam," said Erwin, "I saw how you tried to stop them in order to save everyone. In that sense, I now know you are willing to sacrifice yourself to protect Shiganshina."

Eren couldn't believe that someone like him actually cared about something more than him, but when Christa held Eren's shoulder, she nodded to him that it was true.

"This is my home," said Adam," When my father was too busy, I would always go to the different parks to play, and there would always be others playing as well. From playing with the other kids to the store owners who sold the best ice cream, everyone was friendly. When I learned how my father protected this place, I was so proud, and when I learned of his condition, I needed to step up. I took every opportunity if it meant keeping this place the same as it was when he was in charge. But I was a fool to believe in them."

"You just made a bad choice," said Levi.

"It nearly killed everyone," said Adam looking away.

"Yes, but it didn't. You were lucky this time, take this opportunity to learn from it," said Levi. Erwin smiled as Levi walked away with Petra following.

"You students need to go home now," said Petra, "As much as we hate it, the police will take care of Kane."

Eren and the gang understood as they walked back home together.

"You really are teachers," said Adam.

"We all have different experiences," said Erwin, "we share what we know to the younger generation."

"I'm still not going to help you with the vault," said Adam.

"I didn't think you would, but can you do me a favor?"

"I suppose. I do owe you one."

"Let the media in. The police has been preventing them from entering the site."

"Okay, but you know I can't say anything about my deal."

"That's fine, just send a message to those who made a deal with you. That you will not be their puppet anymore."

* * *

With the chaos finally put out, the students of Caeruleum began heading their own separate ways. Morning was only a few hours away, and as they each waved goodbye, Eren and Mikasa soon found themselves alone together.

There were so many things that happened in one night, and Eren couldn't properly organize it. Mikasa, on the other hand, recognized everything that had come to pass. The Crimson Brawlers destroyed the tradition of illuminating the Christmas tree, they met the Mayor of Shiganshina, and her friends wound up getting hurt. But in this mess, there was a memorable moment she shared with Eren. She said she liked him, she told him her feelings when he asked right to her face. She should be smiling, but she couldn't. Not yet, not until she explained to him about the fighting. It was a gamble, but if Eren had accepted this, she would be smiling all the way home.

"Eren, I can explain about what happened earlier."

"Um, which part?" He wasn't sure if she was referring to the fighting, or the "special moment" they shared.

"The fighting," she took a deep breathe, "its just…I was…"

He could see that she was struggling with the words, and he agreed that after the crazy night, any more pain would just be too much. He didn't want to focus on the bad, and just wanted to talk about the good.

He stopped her, "Mikasa, I still need to process everything that happened, and I'm sure someday, you will tell me your side. I know you will." He stood right in front of her, "Right now, I'm just more happy that you answered my question. And that you answered it the way I wanted you to."

_Oh, that question._ Mikasa began blushing as she looked at her toes. "That's…another thing I wanted to talk to you about."

"Okay, go ahead," he said. He knew that she was embarrassed by this reaction, and ever since she gave him the wrong phone number, he was waiting for some revenge.

"Can you step back a bit?"

"Nope."

"Eren!" She really wanted to punch his proud face, but she yielded when she saw his warm smile. His eyes tilted just a bit as if he was admiring a beautiful painting. Her heart was pounding, he was so at peace, while all she could think about was what to say. Then, she finally found the words.

"Eren, do you…like me?" Her lips were quivering.

"Yeah, I have…for a while." Her face was intensely hot and his was beginning to mirror hers.

"For how long?"

"I have to be exact?"

"Yes."

Eren pondered for a moment before answering, "There were so many times…let's see how far I can remember."

The very though that there were so many times, made Mikasa blush even more furiously.

"Ah!" The reaction jolted her a bit. "That day in the park, when you wore your red scarf."

"That was the first time you met me," she said. Her eyes were facing his now.

"Yeah," he smiled once again, "I know."

"So, the very first time you saw me? But you didn't even know who I was."

"Well you know, it's like that expression 'it was love at first sight'." Eren quickly realized what he had just said.

"LOVE!" said Mikasa. Her ears were now red as she quickly hid her face in her scarf. Did he actually say love?

Eren tried his best to alter what he said, "No! Not love! It's just the expression! I meant it as like I admired you after seeing you?" The last part was intentionally stated as a question.

How did things get this way?

She was so guarded when they first met at his house, and at school she almost distanced herself from her classmates. He was so stubborn that he ignored his father's request to join Viridis Academy, and he was such a brute when it came to confrontations. One was silent, and the other was loud. They were opposites, but there were was also a similarity they both shared. They both have strong hearts, and when they were together, they were unstoppable.

After a few minutes of Eren explaining things, Mikasa cooled down as she asked, "So, now what?" She found difficulty meeting his gaze.

Eren grasped his hair, "Well, I suppose this means that I'm your boyfriend…and you're my girlfriend."

Mikasa's heat meter was rising once again, "Does that mean we have to start k-kissing!?" Mikasa took a few steps back.

Eren chuckled, "I mean if you really want to…Mikasa? Wait Mikasa!"

She still needed to prepare for such a thing to happen between them, so she began running towards her house. Eren was trying his best not to make her feel uncomfortable as he followed in the same direction. It was important that they're relationship started on the right foot, they were neighbors after all.

* * *

**That character development! That confession! That everything! :D Thank you so much for reading, leave a review if you can, check my profile for updates, and I ill cya guys later!**


	19. Confessions

**Yay, new chapter! This was supposed to come out yesterday, but the RWBY season finale was too much for me X(**

**I hope you guys like it, and please enjoy!**

* * *

Confessions

"You are beautiful, Mikasa," said Eren. Her blushing face matched the hue of her dress. The piece of fabric fell smoothly down to her ankles as its only openings were at her shoulders. The white pearl skin enticed him.

"T-Thank you," she said as she brushed behind her ear. The piano was playing a lovely melody; she sensed his presence getting closer, suddenly feeling his palm along her thigh.

As she stared at his eyes he spoke once more, "This moment is missing one thing."

Placing her hands on his chest, she said, "And…what could it be?"

He caressed her face with the other hand; she already knew what he wanted. The two had truly connected as their lips glided together. It was soft, really soft, and almost furry? Why did Eren's lips feel like a cat's fur?

When Mikasa opened her eyes, she was staring straight at Luna's. Mikasa's face grew red as she quickly sat up from her slumber. She grabbed her pillow, and covered her shameful face as she said, "What is wrong with me! I can't believe I had a dream like that with…" She was too embarrassed to even say his name. She peeked at the cat beside her, "Sorry, Luna." Luna stretched her limbs as she hoped out of the bed and towards the living room.

Why were dreams so cruel? Mikasa had thought as she forced herself off the warm bed. Opening the drapes to let the light in, her gaze was locked towards his bedroom window. Thankfully, his drapes were closed. Suddenly, she remembered what today was going to entail.

* * *

_On that night…_

"Mikasa!" He had finally caught up to her, albeit they were already home. "I didn't mean it to sound weird."

"S-Sorry, everything is just happening so fast, and I've never felt like this before," she started playing with her fingers. "I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do…as your g-g-girlfriend." Every syllable caused her to flush.

"You don't have to do anything. Just be who you are, it's why I like you." Eren could see that she was uncomfortable, and decided to call it a night. "How about this. I'll leave you alone until school starts again. I'll wait until you're ready, and we'll go to school together like we've always been doing." She noticed his change in expression.

That smile, she thought, was so powerful. It calmed her as she agreed to the terms. When Eren returned to his house, and when she was finally lying on her bed, all she could think about was him. Would he really leaver her alone for the remainder of winter break? The thought pained her a bit, but perhaps it was necessary. When the first school day of the New Year comes, she will be ready.

* * *

_Present…_

She wasn't ready though. Morning jogs, and hanging out with Sasha and Christa almost every day, didn't help one bit. Every time she was out, she thought about him. Every time she showered, it was Eren. Every time she slept, he would pop up every now and then. She could not relax at all, because all she could ponder was what to say to him.

Deciding to prolong it, she quickly changed, ate her breakfast, and headed out the door. She didn't look for a second at his house as she made her way towards school.

"Where is she? Maybe I should knock," said Eren taking his phone out. He had already texted her that he was waiting outside, and it was getting late. Deciding to knock, he approached her house where Mikasa's mother opened the door.

"Oh, Eren, what are you doing here? You should be heading to school already," she said.

"Sorry, ma'am, but is Mikasa still in her room?"

"No, she left a while ago." Eren couldn't believe it. "Did you need something for her?"

He shook his head, "No, I'll see her in a bit anyways. Thank you Mrs. Ackerman." Eren began running, and wondering if Mikasa had decided to reject him after all. "Why did I say I was going to leave her alone," he mumbled, "I should've just been with her."

At school, Mikasa was sighing as she stared at the blackboard mindlessly. Her classmates were beginning to arrive, and it was Sasha who snapped her back into reality.

"Wow, you look terrible Mikasa," said Sasha.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I guess," Mikasa didn't have the energy to face her friend.

"Uh, what's the matter? Did you not sleep well? Are you hungry, cuz I can help you with that."

"No, its fine. I'm okay."

Sensing the opposite of what she said, Sasha asked further, "Are you still shaken up from the 'event' that happened on Christmas?"

When the word Christmas came up, Eren's confession immediately popped in her head. Mikasa looked down in shame; even though she knew that Sasha meant the incident with the Crimson Brawlers, she couldn't help, but only think about Eren.

"Those Crimson Brawlers were no joke, good thing our teachers took care of them," said Sasha, "They were pretty amazing!"

"Yeah." Mikasa was pondering if she should tell Sasha about Eren's confession, and that they were a couple now. The possibility of saying it embarrassed her; she thought, what would the others think? Especially Christa, who Mikasa believes there is also something between them. A few seconds later, Mikasa instantly brought her head down on her desk, as she hid her face between her arms.

"Um, Mikasa?" Sasha poked her in the arm, to which her response was a groan. "I guess you still wanted it to be winter break, huh?"

"Mm," said Mikasa as Sasha gave up.

Meanwhile, on the way to school, Eren was no longer running as he found himself talking to Christa.

"How was your break?" said Christa. "You know, besides what happened that day," she chuckled.

"Oh yeah that was something else," said Eren trying to hold his anger in. Christa noticing this, prompted her to ask, "Not enough sleep?"

"What?" Eren realized his brows furrowed. "Oh, sorry. No it's something else."

"What is it? You can tell me Eren."

He sighed, "I'm just a little upset at Mikasa. I mean, even after she made it seem like she accepted my confession, she won't even see me now."

Christa stood motionless as she stared at the back of his hair, "What did you say, Eren?"

Eren turned around, just noticing that she had stopped walking, "Eh?"

"You…confessed to Mikasa? When?"

"On Christmas, after we all went home." Eren ruffled his hair as he continued, "I said I liked her, and I suppose she liked me too. Though I'm not sure for how long she did."

Being in shock was an understatement to describe Christa's appearance at this very moment, and before she could respond, two upperclassmen had approached them.

"Yo, Eren, we finally got a chance to talk to you."

Eren and Christa turned to see a bulky blonde in front of them. Behind him was a very tall brunette who had a worried expression etched across his face.

"Um, do I know you?" said Eren.

"My name is Reiner, and this is my friend, Bertholdt. We're second years at Caeruleum."

"Hello," said Bertholdt as he bowed.

Eren and Christa followed his action.

"I'm gonna get right to it," said Reiner, "We want you to join our soccer club. We've seen how fast you run, and can see that you are a natural athlete."

"Um, thanks."

"R-Reiner, we should ask if he is in any clubs first," said Berholdt.

"Oh, I'm not in any," said Eren.

"Really? Wow, we figured you would already be in one, and wondered if you would be able to do both. But this makes it more easier, so you're in, right?" Reiner was confident as he grabbed Eren's shoulder.

"That is surprising though," said Bertholdt, "I think you might be the only one in Caeruleum who is not in a club yet. Oh, sorry I didn't mean it in a bad way."

"I guess it wasn't much of a priority for me," said Eren, "Christa are you in a club?"

"Y-Yes, it's a flower arrangement club. I can show you some of the things I made… when you get the chance." Christa was already looking distant as Eren returned towards the upperclassmen.

"Well," said Reiner, "let us know after the last bell. We could really use your help, Eren." Reiner and Bertholdt left the two teens alone, as Eren began to ponder about the invitation. Being in the soccer club would be fun, but there was still the opportunity to join whatever club Levi was advising.

As Eren and Christa entered the classroom, he returned to the matter at hand, and searched for Mikasa who still had her head down.

"Mikasa," said Eren.

The familiar voice shocked her as she rapidly stood up straight. "I need to excuse myself," she said to Sasha.

"Wait, Mikasa," said Eren, as the rest of the class was starting to notice the commotion.

As she opened the door that led out of the classroom, Levi had appeared from the other side.

"Where do you think you're going? Get back to your seat, Ackerman."

Mikasa obeyed as Levi stood in the front of the class saying, "Everyone sit down and shut up. Class has started."

Sitting back in her seat, she could feel Eren's piercing green eyes from the back of her head. This was going to be a long day.

Every time a class ended or started, Eren would approach Mikasa, but she would always find a way to escape. Around the third escape was when Eren noticed that she was doing it on purpose, so it became a game of cat and mouse, as he tried different tactics to get a hold of her. In one instance, after world history class, he noticed Miss Nanaba talking to Mikasa, so he took the chance to wait outside the classroom, blocking the only exit she could take. Mikasa noticed this and when she finished her conversation with the teacher, she thought of an idea, "Miss Nanaba, Eren really enjoys your class the most."

"Really?" said Nanaba as she smiled. Nothing makes a teacher happier than to see their students taking an interest in their lessons.

"Yes, and he wanted me to tell you, since he is a little shy, that he wishes to learn more about the history of Herz and its former leaders." Mikasa glanced at the window where Eren had a puzzled look. "In fact, he is waiting outside whenever you are ready."

"I see, well then I will be more than happy to satisfy his intellectual curiosity." Nanaba collected her materials as she exited the classroom, where Eren was caught off guard. "Eren, come with me. I'll gladly teach you more of our homeland." She grabbed him by the collar as he squirmed.

"W-Wait, what's going on?" Just before he turned the corner, he saw Mikasa running the opposite direction. "Mikasa!"

Later on in Biology class, Eren was scheming, as lunch break was getting closer. He wasn't paying attention to what the teacher was saying as he scribbled on his notebook.

"So class," said Hange, "scientists are really on the brink of some crazy experiments. My father was a great man in this field, though unfortunately he has passed away." The class was silent out of respect, but it ended quickly as Hange erupted in to laughter. "My old man was something else, he talked about some weird energy project. Sometimes he would talk about it to himself. Cam you imagine that?"

The class fell silent, this time out of awkwardness. The bell rang as the students stood up, and stretched their legs.

"Don't forget to read chapter 5 on your textbook. Sayonara," said Hange, as she was the first to leave.

As Mikasa was pinpointed her exit, she was halted by the demanding voice of one Eren Jaeger.

"MIKASA ACKERMAN!" The whole class stopped abruptly to see what was going on. "I need to speak with you." Knowing that wasn't going to stop her, Eren began opening the window next to him.

Mikasa clenched her eyes as she said, "I-I'm sorry, I can't right now!" She hastily opened the door, and began running down the hallway.

"Um, did I miss something?" said Jean.

"Yeah, yo Eren what's going on?" Connie freaked out when he saw the brown haired boy jumping out of the window, "Eren! What are you doing!?" The rest of the students looked out the windowsill as they saw Eren climb down one floor, entering another classroom where the students were just beginning to leave.

"What the…Eren?" said Reiner who was one of those students.

"Sorry, can't talk right now," said Eren as he swiftly exited the room.

Reiner smiled, "See that Bertholdt? He is fast."

Bertholdt was glancing out the window, "Um, did he just climb down the building?"

Mikasa jogged down the stairs, and when she entered the new hallway, she believed she was safe; until, she saw Eren coming out of the classroom next to her. He grabbed her by the arm, surprising her. "Got you, now we can talk."

She wasn't having any of it, as she coiled behind him and twisted his arm. The tension was brief, as an even greater pain followed when she kicked his back causing him to fall down. The other students were in awe at the girl's strength.

Seeing what she had done really hurt her, but it was necessary. "I'm really sorry, Eren. I-I'm just not ready yet." She started running back upstairs as Eren was slowly getting back up.

"What do you mean you're not ready?" He shook his head as he followed.

Their friends witnessed the two teens running past them going up the building towards the rooftop.

"Are they playing tag?" said Connie.

"No idea," said Jean.

"It looks like they are having a fight," said Sasha.

"I don't think so, though this is the first time I've seen Eren follow Mikasa. Usually, it's the other way around," said Marco.

Christa stared at the two teens climbing the stairs, as the others went to get lunch.

"Eh, I'm sure they'll work it out," said Connie as he whistled. He noticed the blonde girl motionless, "What's up Christa?"

"Nothing, I'll join you guys in a bit," she said leaving the others confused.

On the rooftop, Mikasa finally stopped as she found herself cornered. When Eren finally arrived, she was seriously considering jumping to the next building.

"You…stay…stop running," said Eren as he collected his breath holding his knees, "now tell me what's wrong."

She was quiet.

He stood up straight, "I know you've had a lot of time to think about it. And I'm starting to worry that you might have regrets. If that's the case then you don't have to go out with me, especially if it makes you uncomfortable." His expression was serious; it caused her to finally speak out.

"No! That's not it at all…I am uncomfortable, but that's only because of me…its not you."

"Then what is it?" He started approaching her.

She bit her lip, having difficulty with her words, but soon managed to piece together her emotions, "I've never felt like this before, so I suppose I'm just nervous."

He grabbed her shoulder as she shook a little. "Is that all?" He said.

She nodded. Suddenly, she heard a heavy sigh coming from him, "You're killing me, Mikasa." He motioned a hand towards her forehead as he flicked it. The sting caused her to rub it.

"Ow," she said, though she knew she deserved it. "Are you mad at me?"

"I am. I'm very mad," he said. "But I'll forgive you…if you do something for me."

"What is it?"

"Close your eyes."

She didn't know why he asked such a request, but she obliged regardless. Seeing nothing but blackness, she relied on her other senses to detect what was going on. First, she heard a deep breath. Next, she smelled his aroma. He was definitely inches from her, and she couldn't help but take a whiff of his scent, which resembled the jacket he had given her. Then, a moment of wonder occurred. She felt a softness coming from her lips, as she began to taste his. The combination of feelings was enveloping her as her mind finally registered what was going on. She opened her eyes to the sight of Eren kissing her.

_What? WHAT! Eren is…Eren is k-kissing me!_

Feeling her eyes staring at him, Eren opened his eyes and motioned away slightly as he said, "I told you to close your eyes."

"E-Eren? You…you're kiss—"

"Yes, I am. I know I said I was joking before, but I think you owe me this for making me worry." He looked away as he blushed, "And perhaps…I've been wanting to that for a long time."

The wind brushed her hair as he motioned to comb it behind her ear. "Do you not like it?" he said.

Mikasa shook her head as she smiled. The smile that would tell him that everything was all right now. They had shared their first kiss in such a way that it almost seems laughable. As Eren was preparing to kiss her once more, she noticed this and closed her eyes once again, this time not planning on opening them until she had enough. His warmness soothed her, and she didn't want it to stop.

"So, you two really are a couple now," said Christa as she stood from the doorway.

Eren and Mikasa jolted by the blonde's sudden appearance.

"Christa," said Eren, "how long have you been standing there?"

"Perhaps, a little too long," she said. Her face was emotionless as she stared at Mikasa.

Before Mikasa could say anything, the others had arrived.

"Here you guys are, we brought lunch," said Marco.

"By the way, you two were going crazy," said Connie.

"Yeah, besides what are you guys doing here? Were you two making out or something?" said Sasha as she laughed.

"Yeah, we were," said Eren.

Sasha stopped laughing as Connie's jaw dropped. Mikasa blushed furiously as she looked away, wondering why Eren has no tact.

"Um, come again?" said Connie.

"I've been wanting to tell you guys that me and Mikasa are going out now," said Eren.

"Eren…" said Mikasa holding his shirt. She was too embarrassed to punch him.

"Well, I'm not surprised you two are going out. More like that was really fast," said Jean.

Eren looked puzzled, "What are you talking about?"

"Don't worry about, Jaeger. Congratulations, woo hoo, whatever." Jean sat down to open his lunch as he huffed.

"Well, I'm happy for the two of you," said Marco.

"Mikasa!" said Sasha as she was beginning to bawl her eyes out, "You have a boyfriend! I'm so happy for you! My best friend can actually like someone."

"I-I'm happy you think I'm your best friend," her cheeks remained red, "but Eren is my first friend, and I consider him my best friend."

Eren flicked her forehead again, "Hey, you can have more than one best friend."

Mikasa's face was apologetic as she sarcastically hugged Sasha.

"Good job Eren," said Connie as he fist bumped him, "She is your best friend too, right?"

Eren smiled, "Yeah."

"Ow, that hurts. What about me?"

"Shut up, Connie." Eren laughed.

"Alright, everyone," said Christa, "lets eat before lunch ends."

They agreed, and as Connie sat next to Jean, he said, "You know, you should probably tell Eren about your feelings for Mikasa. Don't keep it bottled up."

"I don't need to," said Jean as he picked on his sandwich, "I don't have any feeling like that anymore."

"You're such a liar, Jean," said Marco. Connie and Jean were surprised to hear Marco say that.

"M-Marco, you knew?" said Jean.

"Yep," he said, "Connie is right, you need some closure."

Jean sighed, "Great, now I have two love doctors." He stared at Eren who was being offered food from Mikasa. "Yeah, I'll tell him."

As the group enjoyed their meals, Levi opened the door abruptly, causing Sasha to almost choke. "Jaeger! Ackerman! In my office now!"

* * *

"The two of you are the only ones in my homeroom not in a club. You are both aware that all students must join clubs. Now either you're testing my abilities as a teacher, or you just don't care. But I want to make this clear, if you don't pick a club, the two of you will be cleaning this school for the remainder of your time here. Do you understand me?"

"Y-Yes, Levi sensei," said Eren as he bowed in shame. Mikasa didn't respond; the short man didn't intimidate her, but she decided to follow Eren's actions.

"So, let's get this over with," said Levi as he handed them a list of clubs, "Pick something that interests you."

Mikasa scanned down the list, but nothing interested her; her intent was to join the same club as Eren, so she waited for him to pick one.

"Um, Levi sensei?" said Eren.

"Hm?"

"Are you advising a club?" said Eren. Mikasa had briefly forgotten about Eren's fascination with Levi.

"No, I'm too busy with other stuff."

"But all the teachers at Caeruleum are supposed to advise at least one club," said Eren.

"True, but Erwin gave me a pass this year."

"I see."

Mikasa could tell that he was disappointed, but was glad that Eren wouldn't be joining any club that Levi was a part of.

"However," said Levi, "I was thinking of forming a journalism club."

Eren grew wide-eyed, "Really? That makes sense, I mean you were a journalist."

Levi was surprised, "Oh, you've seen my work?"

"Anyone who watches news can see the things you've uncovered. I've seen the places you've visited, and the dangerous situations you were caught in. You're like the world's best journalist."

Levi crossed his arms, "What's your favorite article?"

Eren pondered for a moment before he said, "Well, it has to be when you revealed the truth about the corrupt government in Serus." Mikasa and Levi looked at each other briefly before she turned away. "I think that was awesome, there is nothing I hate more than those in charge who abuse their power."

"I agree," said Levi as he stood up. Seeing him in a new light, Levi proposed a deal, "how about this Jaeger." Eren and Mikasa stood straight. "I'll make the journalism club next school year, if you can commit others to join next year."

"I can do that," said Eren.

Levi pointed at the girl beside him, "And I think this one wants to join you, so you already have one."

"Mikasa?" said Eren.

"If you join, then I will too," she said. There was no way that she could let Levi order Eren the way he did to her. She would make sure Eren was safe from the short devil.

"Looks like we have a deal then," said Levi, "oh and one more thing."

Eren smiled, "What is it, Levi sensei?"

"Join a club by the end of the day, or the two of you will join the Caeruleum cleanup crew instead!"

* * *

Sometime during gym class, Eren called on Reiner and Bertholdt.

"Are you guys still offering the soccer club invitation?" said Eren.

"Of course," said Reiner, "are you in?"

"Yep, I don't really have a choice since my homeroom teacher yelled at me."

"Sorry to hear that," said Bertholdt.

Eren ruffled his hair, "No worries."

Just then Mikasa had approached the group as she said, "I would like to join too."

The two upperclassmen were taken aback from the sudden appearance of the raven-haired girl.

"Mikasa? Aren't the girls supposed to be running the mile right now?" said Eren.

"Yes, I finished already," she said, not a single beat of sweat was shown on her face.

"Whoa," said Reiner.

Eren grabbed her shoulder, "Look, you don't have to join the same club as me. I'm sure there is something else you like."

"There isn't," she said, "I've already looked at the other clubs."

"Don't you want to meet new people, and, you know, make more friends?"

"Not really," she looked away as she blushed, "I'm happy with the people I have now."

Eren mirrored her reaction.

"Um, if she wants too, she can be the manager for our club," said Bertholdt.

Reiner and Eren faced him as Mikasa's eyes sparkled.

"So I can join?" she said.

"Uh, sure. Why not?" Said Reiner who decided it would probably be for the best.

"Then it's settled," she said as she smiled.

"Okay, I'll tell the team. Practice is tomorrow, see you guys later," said Reiner as the two upperclassmen waved goodbye.

Eren sighed, "You know, I'm just glad we were able to join a club."

Mikasa nodded.

"Yo, Eren! Mikasa! Mike is calling you guys to get back," said Connie.

"We're on our way," said Eren.

* * *

As Caeruleum closed for the day, Mikasa waited for Eren outside the locker room.

"Hey, Mikasa," said Christa as Mikasa turned around to face her.

"Oh, Christa. Are you going home?"

"I was about too, but I wish to talk to Eren first." Mikasa could see that she was determined about something. Ever since their confrontation about Eren's well being, they both have silently agreed that neither of them was trying to hurt Eren. It was an unspoken truce, but Mikasa feels it was broken the minute Christa discovered their new relationship.

"Hey, what are you guys doing out here?" Eren had appeared out of the locker room as he faced the two girls.

"Can I speak to you for a moment? It won't take long," said Christa.

Mikasa glanced back and forth at the two of them.

"Yeah, of course," he said then turning towards Mikasa, "Go on ahead, I'll catch up to you."

Mikasa was reluctant, but ultimately, deciding to go against her instincts, "Okay."

Taking one last glance back, Mikasa exited the building.

"So, what's up?" he said.

Christa didn't respond as she began walking down a hallway. Eren, puzzled, followed her as he waited for her to say something. A view of the breezing trees and falling leaves was displayed outside the nearby windows. At a certain point, Christa finally spoke up, but continued to walk.

"I love Shiganshina. It's not too quiet like on the countryside, and it's not loud like in a downtown district," she said.

"I haven't really noticed," he said.

She chuckled, "You've never paid attention to the little things. You're so oblivious sometimes." She was quiet again, but only for a moment as she spoke up again, "That's why I was a little surprised that you learned about Mikasa's feelings." She turned to face him, "By the way, which one confessed first, if I may ask."

Eren thought about that night before he said, "I guess I did. I asked if she liked me, but then she asked if I liked her. I suppose we both needed to have confirmation first. It was all in the moment."

Christa gazed between her feet, "I see…I'm glad to see you are willing to like someone for who they are."

_Who they are? Do I really know everything about Mikasa, I feel like I'm missing something about her. Especially when I saw her fight._

She continued, "And since your heart is like this, now I can say this with no regrets." She clenched her fists, and stopped in front of him. What she said next left him speechless.

"Eren, I like you!"

* * *

Mikasa had decided to stop by the usual riverbank. A breeze of cold air glided across her face, as she brought her shoulders up. She stared toward the direction of the school hoping to see his silhouette. There was nothing; she took out her phone, debating whether or not to text him.

He said he was going to catch up, and it didn't seem like it would be a long conversation, thought Mikasa, though they could be talking about class rep responsibilities.

Deciding against her best nature of keeping control, she sent a message.

Mikasa: Are you on your way?

* * *

Neither the buzzing nor the vibrating tension in his pockets took his attention away from Christa at the moment.

"I do," she said, "I have since we played together all those times in the park. I was always so excited to see you there, it was the highlight of my day." She began tearing up, "And when we stopped talking to each other, it hurt. But not as much as it hurts now."

Seeing her in such a state, he wanted to comfort her, "What do you mean hurting now?"

"Because," she wiped her eyes, "Mikasa is a wonderful person."

"Mikasa?"

"At first, I wasn't sure if she was safe, but the more I spent time with her, and with Sasha, the more of a bond I have developed with them. Oh, Eren, the two of them have given me the same friendship I had with you. That's why this hurts, but I need to confess to you now. I want you to know."

Eren was feeling odd to say the least. He had always had a special relationship with Christa, and though there was that moment of uneasiness, he never truly saw her as someone to hate. They grew from that, and now they share good times at Caeruleum with everybody.

"Eren," she said, "I want…I need to hear your response to my confession."

"Christa, I…" What could he say that won't tarnish their friendship now that it had been repaired?

A small opening from one of the nearby windows allowed the breeze to flow through, touching Eren's bangs as they swayed back and forth. As he gazed at the source, he could see the sun making its way to the horizon.

_Did Mikasa reach home already? _

The very thought of her gave him the answer he was seeking.

"Christa, I'm sorry. I…I like Mikasa, a lot. So much so, that I'm even thinking about her now. I know it's cruel to say, but I don't want to lie to you." He bowed as he continued, "I appreciate your confession, Christa, and it makes me happy to hear you say that you like me."

Eren didn't dare bring his head up as he started to hear her sounds of sadness. For making such a girl cry, he really hated himself, especially since she is a close friend. After a few seconds, she approached Eren and guided him to stand straight.

"I'm relieved now," she said, "I'm thankful that you responded to my confession. It may not have been a happy ending, but I'm glad I was strong enough to say it." She wiped the last bit of tears from her cheeks as she smiled, "Let's keep being friends, okay?"

Eren quickly responded, "Definitely!"

"Good," she sniffed, "We spent a lot of time here, so I won't keep you anymore. You need to catch up to Mikasa, I'm sure she's waiting."

Eren remembered his phone vibrating, and as he glanced at the message, he began moving backwards, "Yeah, it seems like she is. I'll see you tomorrow, Christa."

As Eren waved, Christa halted him for a moment, "Hold on Eren."

"What is it?"

In the slightest of moments, she grabbed both of his shoulders, and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. The soft sensation caught him off guard.

"Thank you, for listening to me, Eren. And if Mikasa ever decides to dump you, I'll be there to pick you up," she said with a sly smile. Christa was the first to leave, as Eren stood motionless, waiting for his body to reboot.

Mikasa waited on the doorsteps of her house, until she saw Eren walking towards her.

"Eren," she motioned towards him, "that was a long talk."

"Yeah, sorry."

"What did you two talk about?"

Eren immediately blushed as he moved towards his house. He was too embarrassed to face Mikasa at the moment.

"Eren, what's wrong? Why is your face red? Eren?"

* * *

**Thanks for reading! If you like that, read more stories from my profile, where there are updates as well! Leave a review and Ill cya guys later :)**


	20. Caeruleum Soccer Club

**Sorry, for the long update, but there are some changes I made in the story. First of all, I want to thank you guys for all the reviews and feedback! It makes me so happy to have your support. So, I really want to thank all the reviewers and readers for the taking the time out of their day to read my stories. **

**Now, as for changes, I have decided to bring in Annie and Armin later on in the story :D. I want to stress that this will not change the main plot at all! I edited a few chapters, but you don't need to reread past chapters, it was just a name change. I'll explain more in my profile, so check that out when you can. **

**Again, I can't thank you guys enough for your support and kindness. It's almost hard to believe that it has been over a year already since I joined lol. BUT enough reminiscing, please enjoy!**

* * *

Caeruleum Soccer Club

Eren slipped on a pair of cleats that Reiner had given him for practice. He had to make a mental note to buy his own pair later as these were pretty big. His attire, meanwhile, was unaltered from his last class, gym. His friends, who were standing around him, weren't surprised that Eren was joining the soccer team; they were more shocked to see that he had not joined a club yet. Still, they knew if Eren was going to join anything, it had to be soccer.

"This is pretty awesome, hopefully you make the team Eren," said Marco.

"Of course he will," said Connie proudly. "When it comes to sports, Eren is always the best, and soccer is his favorite sport!"

Marco was in awe as he turned toward Jean. "Is that true? I mean I've seen him play with us in gym class, but I thought he was just messing around."

Jean annoyingly crossed his arms. "Jaeger is the kind of person who will always play seriously, even if it's with his friends. Oh, and he is alright."

Connie approached Eren, who was tying his cleats. "Yeah, but this time he has a reason! I know you'll do great man." Connie patted his back.

Eren sat up. "Thanks, Connie. But like I said, this isn't permanent. This will only be for the rest of the year, and then I'm switching clubs."

"What if you become a star? You can be the best player ever," said Marco.

"Whoa calm down, Marco," said Jean. "Like I said, he's not that good."

Eren fronted Jean. "Huh? You want to repeat that?"

Jean didn't back down. "I didn't stutter." The two were beginning to growl at each other, and before it could go any further, Connie split them up.

"Okay, enough. As much as I want to see a fight, I'm tired." He yawned. "School was too much today."

Jean gave one last glare to Eren before heading out with Marco and Connie. As they exited the lockers, they saw Sasha and Christa leaving as well.

"Oh, hey boys," said Christa, "You guys going home?"

"Yep, are you guys waiting for Mikasa?" Marco asked.

"No, didn't you here? She is the manager for the soccer club now," said Sasha.

"What? Really?" said Jean in disbelief.

"Yeah, we were a little surprised, but I guess she had no choice," said Christa, "I'm sure Levi sensei was hounding her to join a club already."

"It could be that…or she just wanted to be with Eren," said Connie. The others looked at each other, and came to the conclusion that Connie was probably right.

"Well, it should be interesting," said Marco.

"We definitely have to watch their next game," said Christa.

"I'm in," said Connie.

"Me too," added Marco.

Sasha already had her hand raised. "Me three."

"Are you sure you want to come Sasha?" Jean said, already heading towards the exit. "There won't be any concession stands for you to bankrupt."

Sasha angrily followed him. "Hey that's mean! Ya think I like eatin all the time?"

"And there goes the lady manners, you really have a two face."

She began grinding her teeth, until she thought of a comeback. "Better to have a two face than a horse face!"

Jean stopped moving as the others were in shock at the sudden remark. If there was one weakness Jean had, it was that he cares about his looks. It wasn't long before shock turned into laughter.

"Whoa, now that's a burn," said Connie.

Christa was struggling to hide it. "Oh, Sasha…that's…*pfft*…mean."

Jean glared at each of them as his pride was slowly breaking into pieces. He turned toward Marco, a person he thought was a true bro. "Even you?"

"Sorry, Jean, but you did make fun of her. At least this way you're even."

"Forget that!" Jean turned back to Sasha, who was still glaring at him. "Now you've done it Braus. Consider yourself on my list of people I will humiliate, right next to Jaeger!"

"Bring it on, Kirstein!" The two growled at each other, while the others began imagining the future confrontations these two will have.

"This might get interesting," said Connie.

* * *

Once Eren had finished suiting up, he stood atop the field where he saw the team running drills. He approached Reiner who was watching on the side.

"Hey, I'm happy that you guys invited me to join this late in the year," said Eren.

"Of course, we need the help."

"I'm not sure how much help I can bring, but I won't slack off. That I can promise."

Reiner nodded. "Good to hear. Come on, I'll introduce you to the rest of the team." He crossed his arms, preparing to get the attention of the team. "Everyone! Line up!"

The members of the team hastily followed Reiner's orders. "Listen up, we have a new member joining us. His name is Eren Jaeger, and he will help us become champions!"

The team was a little stunned to hear that such a player had arrived. There was of course some doubt at first, but they all remembered the situation they were in. They're standing was not in the position they wanted to be, and getting more help would be beneficial for the team. Still, they needed to see what he could do on the field before they could officially accept him.

"Alright then, get back to it!" Reiner prompted the team to resume their drills as they all waited for the coach to arrive.

Eren felt a little nervous to hear such a proclamation, but Reiner told him that this team needed him. So, the option of failing was no longer a choice, and neither was just trying hard. He needed to become a symbol, a savior even, to help them succeed. It was the least he could, because he hadn't told Reiner or Bertholdt that this was only a temporary thing.

"We don't mean to put the pressure on you," said Berholdt, "but our team has lost some morale recently, so we feel like this could help. I mean, we also told them how fast you are."

"It's alright. I consider it a challenge, and I know failure is not an option," said Eren.

The statement gave Bertholdt reassurance. Reiner turned towards Eren. "We'll have you start in the forward position. Your speed and power will be best utilized that way. Any objections?"

"No, sounds good."

Reiner called on another member to meet Eren personally. "This is our midfielder."

The player extended his hand. "Nice to meet you, Eren. My name is Leonardo, but you can call me Leo for short."

Eren smiled as he accepted the handshake. "Nice to meet you too. Are you a first year as well?" He noticed how young he looked and that he was a few inches shorter than himself.

Leo chuckled. "Nope, do I seem like it?"

"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean it like that."

"No worries, friend. I'm only a second year, like these two." Leo threw his arms over his two classmates.

"He is also a transfer student," said Bertholdt, "and is very skilled at this sport. We were happy when he decided to join us."

Reiner patted Leo's back roughly. "This guy's job is to link the offensive and defensive players. He'll also make sure the ball will be right where you need it to be." Leo smiled widely, showing no signs of discomfort from Reiner's force.

"That's good to know," said Eren. "By the way, what positions do you two guys play?"

Reiner picked up a nearby soccer ball as he began spinning it on his finger. "I'm the center back. I used to be a forward, but the coach felt like my big body will be best used on defense. As long as I'm there, no one is scoring on me." He held a proud face as he tossed the ball to Bertholdt. "And if by some miracle, someone does get past me, they will have to deal with him."

"I'm the goalkeeper, and as you can probably guess, it's my length that makes it the perfect position for me."

"I see, well if you two are in the back, I can attack freely with no worries."

Leo approached Eren, giving him the same embrace. "I like your confidence, friend. We've been missing a good striker. Let's go meet the rest of the team!"

As Eren was meeting the rest of his team, Mikasa was getting a quick run down of tasks from the coach at his office.

"So, if you see any signs of fatigue from the players, let me know," said Dita, as he handed her a clipboard of the team's drills.

"Understood, Mr. Ness." Mikasa grabbed the clipboard, and immediately began scanning the pages.

"Oh, I almost forgot." Dita was fumbling with his pockets, until he revealed a whistle. "With this, you can tell any of them what to do. I need you to make sure that no one is slacking off. It's important that everyone is at peak physical shape, otherwise we don't stand a chance against our opponents."

Mikasa nodded triumphantly as she placed the whistle over her head. Making sure no one was lazy was one of the many traits she was good at.

"I'm thrilled to have a student manager, and a new player on the team. Hopefully the two of you joining will prove to be a sign of good luck for us." Dita opened the door leading to the field. "Let's go."

As they approached the field, Mikasa saw that Eren was already becoming one of the guys. It was so easy for him to make friends, and yet she just wanted to not be an outcast. Though, she thought, none of the other members would want to speak to a manager.

"That's enough warm-ups. Reiner, get them in line," said Dita.

"Line up!"

As the team gathered, they couldn't help but notice the raven-haired girl standing next to their coach.

They all started to mumble amongst each other. "Who is the girl? She is pretty. No way is she our new manager? She is way too beautiful to be our manager."

Dita cleared his throat. "This here is our new team manager. So treat her with respect, or else you will all—"

"WOOHOO! All right! Yes! We finally have a girl manager! I'm so happy right now! This is the best day of my life!" They all cheered, while some of them began hugging each other as tears of joy fell down their cheek.

Mikasa was surprised, to say the least, at the admiration. When she turned toward Eren, she saw him smiling. He too was a bit puzzled at the team's behavior, but nonetheless, he realized that she would no longer have any problems fitting in, or even making new friends.

Speaking of making new friends, one was already working on it. "Oh, bella flora, we are all joyful to have you with us." It was Leo, who was on his knees. Mikasa wasn't sure how to respond, so she turned toward Eren for help, but all he did was laugh at the sight before him. She made a mental note to ignore him on the walk home.

Reiner picked up Leo from the ground as Dita commanded, "Quit it! Let's start the practice!"

"You heard him, get in to the drills!" Reiner yelled.

Before leaving, Eren approached Mikasa as he signaled for a high five. She was still not happy from before, but decided to return the gesture. Seeing his delighted face almost made her forget where they were. As he turned back towards the team, she stared at her palm where she felt his contact. The warmness she felt from his hand was so heartfelt that she could not stop smiling. She learned she was not going to be an outcast in this club, and she was happy to see that Eren wanted her to be here. She blushed as she clutched the clipboard.

"Mikasa, make sure no one is slacking off," said Dita.

"Yes, Mr. Ness."

* * *

Towards the end of the practice, the team was scrimmaging as the coach wanted to see the fruits of their labor. It didn't take long for Eren to get comfortably with the formations, as he positioned himself in front of the goal. Leo, seeing the opening, lobbed it high enough for Eren to header it towards the goal. Unfortunately, Bertholdt was able to grab the ball. As he kicked it towards the other goal, the other team's forward was fast approaching the goal. Eren, not giving up, sprinted towards the other side of the field. The team was in awe at his pace as he caught up to the attacking player. Eren managed to break the counter attack by sliding in front of the player, and kicking the ball out of bounds. Mikasa looked on as Eren slowly got back up. He dusted himself up, and picked up his teammate from the ground. Dita whistled, signaling the end of the scrimmage.

"Good hustle, Eren. Okay everyone that's enough for today, gather 'round."

Mikasa handed water bottles to everyone; each one felt immediately touched by her nurturing aura. She handed an especially cold one to Eren, who took a sip from the plastic bottle.

Dita stood in front of the team. "Okay, we're only a few games away from the spring tournament, and so far our standing is not great. We still need to win two of our next three games just to enter."

"Don't worry coach, we will make it," said Leo.

"Yeah coach, it seems as though our two new additions have brought our morale up," said Reiner. Eren blushed a little at the comment, while Mikasa held her stoic expression.

"Indeed, and if we keep working hard, we might even win the whole thing," said Bertholdt. The entire team was excited for the challenge as they all agreed with him.

Dita held a proud expression. "Well, I think this is the finest team I have ever coached. Okay! Our game next week is against Rubeus High School, so lets keep working hard until then!"

The team cheered in unison. "Yeah!"

"Three cheers for Mikasa, our new manager! Who is a girl!" said one of the players.

"Yeah!" Once again they were all in unison, except for Eren who was beginning to feel a little jealous. Mikasa hid her blush from the team as they kept cheering for her.

"And of course, Eren for joining us!" said Bertholdt who noticed Eren's expression.

"Yeah!"

Eren feeling good again, decided to approach Mikasa. "So what do you think?"

"About?"

"The club, all of this. They're all friendly, and well…the team appreciates you being here."

Seeing the team made her smile a little. "Yes, I can see." She turned back towards Eren. "Um, what about you?"

"Me?"

Mikasa nodded. Eren was a little shy to say it, but he knew that her presence was helpful for the team. And it did make him feel happy that his girlfriend was supporting him from the sidelines.

"I'm…glad…that you joined with me. I know I was a little guarded at first, but now it doesn't matter. As long as you're happy, then I am as well."

"I am happy, Eren. To be here alongside you, cheering you on."

If they were not surrounded by their teammates, this would have been the perfect moment for a kiss. Eren knew that, but he felt that if he did, the team's morale would go down. After all, they were delighted that their manager was a girl. Mikasa, meanwhile, could sense the wanting aura that he showed, but she too had to hold it in. She thought to herself, it was definitely not because it would be embarrassing, it was just not professional as a manager.

"Okay, practice is over! Go on home," said Dita.

"Yo, lets go to karaoke! Yeah, I'll go if Mikasa is going! Let's go Mikasa please!"

Mikasa could only smile sarcastically as she tried to reject the offer. Eren left her behind once again.

* * *

Looking out the window, and towards the field, was Levi, who was in Erwin's office.

"They're confident, hopefully it will result in success," said Levi.

"I'm sure it will," said Erwin. "With Eren joining them, and Mikasa overseeing them, they are prepared."

Levi took his sight away from the team, and towards the raven-haired girl. "I'm surprised you knew who she was."

"Of course, I take a thorough look at all the incoming students. Aside from Eren's profile, hers was very interesting."

"She really hates me."

"Yes, well, I would dislike you too if I was in her position." Erwin motioned towards the window. "Teaching her to fight to the point where she became a monster. Even though she almost killed someone, you told her it was justified, so she kept fighting."

"Serus wasn't an ideal place to live," said Levi.

"Yes, but it resulted in her being surrounded by anger, blood, and chaos. Eventually, the darkness of it all pursued her, and when she was finally backed into a corner, you abandoned her."

Levi sighed, "I'm not perfect, Erwin."

In one of the few rare moments, Erwin saw a different side of Levi. For most of his life, Levi lived most of his life with no regrets, but he is not perfect; and Erwin could see that in his expression. It was sorrowful.

"She is better now," said Levi. "That's all that matters."

"Yes, she is a normal girl now, but I wonder how long that will last," said Erwin. "You kicked one of the head members of the Zakuya family out of Serus, but do you know where he went?"

"Probably to his pops house, though I'm sure he won't be safe there. After all, Serus was supposed to be theirs, and his dad won't like the fact that he lost it to a school girl and a journalist."

"What if they go after her again?"

"She wore a mask, and her hair was the only thing you can see."

Erwin pondered. "What about you?"

"I would rather them attack me, then her." Levi began walking towards the exit. "But I'm sure they are busy with other things. They have the whole region of Herz to play with."

As Levi opened the door, Erwin spoke up, "Wait, can I ask you something?" Levi didn't face him as he stopped. "If you abandoned her, then how did she become the way she is now?"

Levi took a glance out the window. "It might have something to do with her friend. The friend she claimed hated her."

"Did you know her friend?"

"I met her once by accident. Her name is Annie. Annie Leonhart."

* * *

In the next few practices, Eren was getting more in sync with his teammates as he continued to score goals. Leo, especially, enjoyed them as he took his chance to show off his dancing.

Eren couldn't help but notice it. "Um, Leo, what are you doing?"

"I'm celebrating your goal!" Eren had never seen this style of dancing before. He was aware of goal celebrations, but this was new. "Come on, friend, join me! We will do this celebration when you score in the next game!"

"Uh…we are in the middle of practice, maybe another time," said Eren, as he was slowly walking backwards. Reiner approached behind him.

"Now, now, Eren. Leo has a point, we should stick it to the other team by showing off."

Leo was pulling Eren as Reiner began laughing. "It's not hard, follow my lead."

Hearing the commotion, Mikasa walked towards it. She stood still as she watched Eren…dance?

"You move your hips in one direction while moving to the side. Your right leg follows your left leg, and your arms mimic them. Then, to add some spice, kick out your leg, and go the other direction. See it's not that hard!" Leo smiled widely at Eren's attempt to perform the routine. Reiner was struggling to keep his laughter in. Mikasa wasn't sure what to make of it, but it did amuse her to see Eren in such a state. After a few minutes, she decided it was enough.

"Eren, what are you doing?" she said. The three boys turned around.

"M-Mikasa, uh…Leo was teaching me something. It was Reiner's idea."

"I see, well you should do it on your own time. You guys need to get back to practicing." With that said, Mikasa returned to oversee the others.

"Man that was embarrassing," said Eren.

"Yeah it was," said Reiner.

"Don't be embarrassed, friend," said Leo.

Eren faced him. "Why not?"

"Because women love this dance!"

"Huh? Did you not see Mikasa's face?" said Eren. "I did not see any kind of attraction there."

"That's only because you need practice! Trust me, when you do it right, she will swoon all over you!" Leo's confidence gave Eren confidence.

"Really?"

Leo nodded as he threw his arms over him, "Let me teach you this, and you'll thank me later. I'll even add in a little extra moves."

Reiner began guiding them back to practice. "Hey, maybe when you use it to celebrate, you can have the opponent team swoon all over you."

As Mikasa returned to her post, she noticed a familiar figure stretching next to the team field. "Connie? What are you doing here?"

"Oh, Mikasa, I'm just warming up for my training."

"What training?"

"I'm going to be the mascot for the soccer club."

"Eh? Really? I didn't know we had one."

"I didn't either, but the principal gave me like, the best offer."

"Offer?"

"Yep, he said if I do this for the remainder of the season, he'll excuse all of my absences! Isn't that great! Shouldn't be too hard." Connie was in glee.

"I see…that's good, I think. So where is the costume?"

"I'm waiting for Mr. Z to bring it."

Mike appeared on the field where he was holding said costume. From the start, the most prominent feature of the costume was the wings. Mike handed it to Connie, before heading back. When held up, the wings only protruded a few inches from the back and toward the sides. A combination of ocean blue and white skated across each feather lining, and were even more noticeable when they fluttered around from Connie's attempt to put it on.

Once secured, Connie posed by letting the wings flap out. "So, how do I look?"

To others it might have been funny, and Connie wouldn't have mind if Mikasa had laughed. But she respected the fact that he was taking this seriously, even if it was for extra credit.

"Very prideful, Connie," she said.

"Thanks, though I wonder how funny this is going to be. If I could put smiles on everyone's face, and help them cheer for our team, then mission accomplished."

"You really don't let things like this bother you, huh?"

"Hm? Why would it?"

"Never mind, good luck with the practice."

"Oh, don't worry about me. I'll have the cheerleaders help me out. Here I come ladies! Oh Mikasa, make sure Eren isn't slacking off!"

Mikasa waved. "I will." Returning to her duties, she focused on doing just that. "Don't give up, Eren!"

Hearing her call, Eren waved back in appreciation as he set up for a free kick.

* * *

The debut game for Eren was upon him. The team had finished changing into their gear. Coach Dita Ness and manager Mikasa Ackerman stood before the boys just before tip-off.

"Alright, you guys have practiced hard, so remember your training, and trust your teammates. Ackerman, tell them the formation."

Mikasa pulled out her clipboard. In the past few days, she had studied the formations, and even spoke to Dita about different plays. "We are going with the usual 4-4-2 lineup, Leo will stay up with Eren, so that when we counter attack, it will be so fast, the opponents won't even know what happened."

"Quick and silent, I like it," said Reiner.

The team nodded. Eren's determined face gave Mikasa confidence in the plan.

"Reiner, if you please," said Dita.

Reiner inhaled loudly. "Let's get them! Fight!"

"Fight!"

* * *

"Here should be good," said Marco. Jean, Christa, and Sasha sat at the front of the bleachers, as they prepared to cheer for their friends and their school.

"Thank goodness, it's a nice sunny day," said Christa.

"What are you searching for Braus," said Jean. "Could it be that you were actually hoping for a food stand?"

"Shut up! I'm just admiring the field."

"Hey, look! Its Connie, I guess he really did accept the deal," said Marco.

"I can't believe the principal did that," said Jean. "Connie is either really lucky, or incredibly stupid."

"I think it's nice to have school spirit," said Christa. She cuffed her mouth. "Go Connie!"

Connie saluted his friends just before he joined the cheerleaders. He began pumping the crowd up. The loud cheers coupled with the acrobatic maneuvers brought the people to their feet.

"He really is good at this, I'll give him that," said Marco.

"Definitely, you can totally feel the energy," said Sasha.

"WOOOHOOO! Get them! Tackle each one of them down if you have to!" The loud remarks came from the person sitting behind them. It was Hange who held a bucket of popcorn, and was wearing the school colors.

"Miss Hange!" said Christa.

"Hm? Oh, if it isn't my little students."

"I didn't know you liked sports."

"Ah, not really. I just want to support the kids." She displayed a peace sign. "Plus, I get a free shirt every time I come here."

"Of course," said Jean.

Sasha was staring at the popcorn.

Hange noticed this. "What is it, Sasha?" Sasha merely pointed at the bucket. "Hm? This? You want to know where I got it?" Sasha nodded furiously. "Ah I made it in my office. Sorry no more." Sasha sulked as Christa began comforting her.

Suddenly, the announcers grabbed the attention of the audience; they prepared for the teams to come out.

"Hello everyone! I am your wonderful play-by-play announcer, Mina Carolina!"

"And I'm her assistant, Thomas Wagner."

"Oh its Mina and Thomas, so that's what they've been doing after school," said Marco.

Mina was very animated as she continued the introductions. "Today, we have a home match against Rubeus High School."

"Yes, and they are very good," said Thomas. "They have won they're last two games, and their defense is very tough."

"Tough like a 50 meter wall, wouldn't you say Thomas?"

"A-Ah, y-yes I guess that's one way to look at it."

"Correct. Oh, and now it looks the Caeruleum soccer club is coming out of the lockers, so cheer loudly for your home team everyone!"

The team's jersey consisted of a white short and blue shirt. The symbol of Caeruleum High school, the wings of freedom, was etched on the back of the shirts along with the player's last name.

Leading the team was their captain. "Reiner Braun leads the team out of the tunnel. Just look at the determination on his face," said Mina. "He is the best defender in the league. And there is the vice-captain, Bertholdt Hoover, whose size nearly covers the entire goal!"

"Yes, it seems like nothing is getting passed those two," said Thomas.

"Oh, and we can't forget about Leo! He plays as if he was dancing with the ball, it's so cool!"

"Yes, his dibbling skills are top notch."

"And…Huh? I think there is someone new on the team. Uh, Thomas?"

"Ah, give me a second." Thomas was gathering information from the other assistants. "Let's see, that is…Eren? Oh, its Eren Jaeger!"

"Eh? You mean Eren from our homeroom class?"

"Yes."

"Oh, awesome! Well that is a surprise! Way to represent our class Eren!"

Thomas scratched his cheek nervously. "Do you think it was mean that we didn't know that?"

"Ah, its fine, we're his friends."

Marco sighed, "We are his friends too, and we didn't even know until right before his first practice." The others sighed as well.

Eren glanced towards the pair of commentators. "What are they doing?"

"You don't talk with your classmates, Eren? That's not good," said Leo.

"No, it has nothing to do with that. I just didn't think I was required to tell everybody," said Eren, as he warmed up.

"Its kind of funny though. You have interesting classmates, Eren." said Reiner.

Mina resumed the introductions. "For those of you who don't know, Eren Jaeger is a first year student, and he is our classmate! He is a very loud person, likes to assert dominance, and from the rumors I hear…has a great fascination with our homeroom teacher!"

"What the—!" Eren almost lost his balance.

"I take it back…its hilarious!" said Reiner, as his other teammates were holding in their laughs.

Jean was holding his stomach. Marco and Christa palmed their face.

"Eh, isn't that true though?" said Sasha.

"Thomas! Mina!" yelled Eren, causing the two to shudder.

"I didn't say anything though," said Thomas, he turned towards Mina. "Don't cause disruption, Mina."

Mina giggled. "Hehe, sorry Eren!"

"Anyways," said Thomas, "Eren will be wearing the number eleven jersey and is assigned as a striker."

Mina was pondering for a second, until she saw Mikasa. "Oh, I was right."

"Excuse me?" said Thomas.

"Well, Mikasa is always around Eren, so I thought she would be in the same club as Eren."

"O-Oh, yes, it seems like she is the manager."

"Makes sense. Does that mean the rumors of them being a couple are true?"

"M-Mina, you do know everyone can hear you, right?"

Mina turned toward the field. "Ah…sorry again, Eren!"

Eren was grilling his teeth. "That's it, I'm going to kill them."

Mikasa had the biggest blush etched across her face as she hid her face with the clipboard. "I'm so glad my parents didn't come today."

Hange smiled widely. "Ah, youth."

Jean and Christa hid in shame, while Marco chuckled.

"Eh? Isn't that true though?" said Sasha.

Just then the majority of the Caeruleum team dropped to their knees as they all screamed at the same time. "NO WAY! My chance is over! Our beautiful manager was already taken! NOOOOOOO!"

Eren and Mikasa tried to calm everyone down, but it was to no avail. The coach was also useless. "Knock it off everyone."

Surprisingly, it was Leo who brought everyone back up. "Please, my friends, gather yourselves. As men, we must accept and honor her decision. After all, as they say, it is only the beautiful flowers that get picked from the ground."

The bright warm field began emanating from Leo, and as he brought them back to their feet, they all hugged each other.

"I think Leo just compared you to someone dying," said Eren.

"Yeah, it seems like that," said Mikasa.

"That's when you know your team has chemistry," said Mina, as she wiped a tear. "Oh, and it seems as though the other team has arrived."

Eren turned to face the opponent, and what he saw shocked him. "Hannes?!"

Mikasa was also shocked to see their former middle school teacher.

Hannes approached the two. "Oh, if it isn't Eren, and Mikasa. How you've guys been?"

Eren smiled. "We're great, but what about you? Are you the soccer coach of Rubeus High School?"

"Ah, yes this is a side thing. I'm actually a head teacher at Rubeus High School now. I got the offer after you guys graduated."

"It's nice to see you again," said Mikasa.

Hannes grabbed their shoulders. "Likewise, I'm happy to see you guys are good, especially after that incident on Christmas. I wanted to stop by your parent's house, but Pixis had me working overtime during that whole fiasco."

"Yeah it was crazy," said Eren.

"More importantly," said Hannes, as he put his arms around Eren. He started whispering. "I couldn't help but over hear your new relationship with Mikasa."

Eren blushed furiously, "Uh—"

"Good job kid. Did you tell your parents about it?"

"Not…yet."

"Want me to tell them?"

"Hell no!"

Mikasa tilted her head, as she grew curios at their conversation.

Eren shook off Hannes. "Anyways, we're not going to go easy on you."

"I expect nothing less," said Hannes, as he returned to his team.

"What was that about?" said Mikasa.

"It was nothing. Don't worry about it. Reiner! Let's get ready!"

Reiner began mobilizing the players. "Onward to victory!"

"Victory!"

* * *

There was five minutes left in the game with the score even as neither side scratched first. With Rubeus' tough team defense and Caeruleum's star centerback and goalkeeper, it was a predictable result. For Rubeus a draw would have been fine since they were the away team, but for Caeruleum a win was necessary.

"Come on you guys! Keep fighting!" yelled Dita.

On the attack, Eren received a pass from Leo, giving him space near the goal. But he was stopped abruptly by the defense. Mikasa took note of the number of players guarding him. Eren, seeing a small opening, took the opportunity to strike at goal, only for it to be halted by the goalkeeper.

"Oh man that was close," said Mina.

"Yes, perhaps a little more power was needed," said Thomas.

"Oh, shoot," said Christa.

"Hey, Eren! How did you miss that!" yelled Jean, he was grabbing on to the railing.

Eren had really good ears, as he turned to face the heckler. "Shut up, Kirstein! I'm trying!"

"Try harder!" yelled Sasha, who was trying to motivate Eren. She too was holding on to the railing.

"Eren get back on defense!" said Reiner.

"Tch, we're almost there," mumbled Dita. Mikasa approached Dita, telling him what she learned from the recent play. "What is it, Mikasa?"

"Coach, I've noticed that Rubeus is moving their center backs towards the right side where Eren is positioned. I believe that Hannes realizes that Eren still has his stamina as opposed to the rest of our team. They figured Eren is more of a threat, and are just focused on him."

"Hm, they are getting tired out there. So, what are you proposing?"

"I don't think Eren can see it due to the size of the defenders, but if he can notice the openings they are leaving, then he can pass it to a player that is cutting towards the goal."

"I see, so we will use Eren as bait. Okay then." Dita motioned towards a nearby player as he signaled for a play. "If this doesn't work, we'll have to put more stress on ourselves for the next game."

Leo held the ball, but before he passed it, his teammates relayed the new attack scheme to him. "Got it."

"Oh, it seems as though Caeruleum is doing something," said Mina.

"Yes, its like everyone moved towards one side of the field…except for Eren," said Thomas.

Receiving the pass from Leo, Eren began dribbling the ball down the field. Rubeus was unsure what to do.

"Coach Hannes, what do we do?" said one of the assistants.

"The only threat is number eleven, keep the same play."

Seeing the time dwindling, Eren received a second wind as he accelerated pass the defender.

"Whoa! Eren still had this much stamina! Look at him go! He is just passing by everyone," said Mina.

"Yes, Eren is the fastest runner in our gym class after all," said Thomas.

"Alright, look at him go," said Sasha.

"Heh, he is finally playing serious," said Jean.

"Go, Eren!" said Christa.

"Hell yeah! Charge through that defense! No prisoners!" said Hange.

With no tall defenders obstructing his vision, Eren was finally able to see the opening, but he had two choices, to pass or shoot. It was only the goalkeeper standing in his way, but this person has been stopping all the shots on goal.

_I think I'll make it this time; I just need to put more power into it. But what if I miss. No! I'll definitely score. _

Like a wakeup call, Mikasa shouted his name, giving him the right answer. "Eren!" In a sea of screams and chants, he heard her call.

"Eren passes the ball…Leo has it, and he is a lot of space! He shoots…and scores! Caeruleum scores!" cheered Mina.

The stands went crazy as the home crowd cheered in glee.

"They did it!" said Christa and Sasha, as they hugged each other.

Hange threw her arms over Jean and Marco. "That's how you kill their spirits!"

"Great shot Leo," said Connie.

"Thanks birdman, but it Eren's pass that did the trick." Leo began pulling Eren towards the side of the field. "Are you ready for the celebration?"

"We're actually doing that?" said Eren.

"Of course, we did all that practicing!"

Eren sighed as he began following Leo's movements. The thrill of the moment was just too good to say no. They began dancing as if it was festival, and the way the cheers escalated, it almost seemed like that. The rest of the team tried their best to copy, but it wasn't as good as the two of them. Dita and Mikasa approached the celebration, and midway through it, Leo nudged Eren to signal that Mikasa was watching. Suddenly, Eren grabbed Mikasa by the arm and twirled her, dropping her clipboard in the process. "E-Eren!" She blushed as he dipped her, and then released her.

"Good job, Eren!" said Leo as he placed his arms over his neck.

Eren laughed, "You know, it wasn't that bad. Everyone liked it."

"I told you, and the ladies love it!"

Eren turned towards Mikasa as he picked up the clipboard for her. "Sorry about that."

Mikasa shook her head, "Its fine…I don't mind."

Eren chuckled, "You probably thought it was stupid, huh? Don't worry, I won't do it again."

Mikasa clutched the clipboard. "There are things you do that are stupid…but I liked it, and…I-I don't mind if you do it again."

Reiner stood in between them. "Oh, they're blushing."

"Reiner!"

* * *

**Thank you for reading! You are all awesome! Check profile for updates, and I'll cya guys later!**


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